Doha
More than 17,000 people attended the cultural, recreational and sports programmes organised by the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Friday, the second day of Eid al-Adha.
The events were held for the Pakistani community and expatriate residents of Ras Laffan and Al Khor, as well as the Nepalese community, the MoI said in a statement yesterday.
More than 5,000 people, especially from the Pakistani and Indian communities, attended the Pakistani community Eid celebration at Wakrah Sports Club on Friday evening.
Besides, a cultural show organised by the ministry in association with the Barwa group at Barwa Workers’ Sports Complex in Al Khor Industrial Area attracted more than 12,000 people, including families, who hailed from the Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Sri Lankan and other Asian communities, the statement noted.
From the MoI, Brig Abdulla Khalifa al-Muftah, director of the Public Relations Department; Col Ahmed Zayed al-Muhannadi, director of the Community Policing Department; Col Sultan Mohamed al-Kaabi, assistant director of the Community Policing Department; and several officers from the Community Policing Department and South Security Department attended the two events.
At Al Wakrah Sports Club, Brig al-Muftah extended Eid greetings to the audience and said: “I wish that you enjoy this programme and am looking for more programmes to be organised in partnership with expatriate communities on future occasions."
During his speech, he thanked and appreciated the organising committee of the Pakistani community Eid celebration for it efforts in making the event a successful one.
He presented a memento of the ministry to the organising committee headed by Janan Bangash as a token of appreciation. The organising committee, on its part, also honoured Brig al-Muftah with a memento for his support.
A variety of cultural and musical shows were held during the Pakistani programme, involving well-known artistes and singers from Pakistan, such as Afshan Zebi, Noorjahan and Usman Bangesh. They performed in the Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi, Persian, Balochi and Saraiki languages.
Popular Pakistani comedian Khawaja Masood was another attraction.
In Al Khor, Brig al-Muftah and Col al-Muhannadi honoured the winners and runners-up of the tug-of-war championship. HBK Co and the Sri Lankan community team won the first and second prizes, respectively.
The Al Khor programme included an array of cultural shows and performances by artistes from the Al Khor Indian community. Traditional dances and songs, semi-classical dance, bhangra and folk dances, as well as a fusion performance, were among the highlights.
Songs and shows in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Nepali, Arabic, Urdu and English were performed by artistes from the orchestra, Sariga, on the second day of Eid.
