Press Release: Aligarh Alumni Celebrates Sir Syed Day

From Ashfaq Qureshi, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Federation of Aligarh Alumni Associations

The Federation of Aligarh Alumni Associations is celebrating Sir Syed Day and conducting Mushaira events in the cities of Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Cleveland Ohio, Detroit Michigan, Atlanta Georgia, Boston Massachusetts, Little Rock Arkansas, Houston and San Antonio Texas, Los Angeles and San Francisco California and Salt Lake City Utah in the months of November and December 2006.

The selected poets are mainly from India and Pakistan. These great poets include Nida Fazli of Indian movie fame, Khushbir Sigh Shaad from Lucknow, Popular Meeruti, Jazib Qureshi and Rehana Roohi.

Aligarh Muslim University was conceptualized in Mohammedan Anglo Indian College in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), a great Indian visionary and educationist. It achieved university status in 1920, one of the premier universities of India. Sir Syed Day is celebrated all over the world by its alumni and well-wishers.

The celebration has special features at some locations. For example, in New York, the ninth Mushaira event includes a Sir Syed Day Dinner and the presentation of the ‘Sir Syed Day Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Literature, Poetry, Arts or the Sciences’ for 2006 to India’s most distinguished Film Director, Mr. Shyam Benegal who will also deliver the keynote address on ‘Secularism in India Cinema’.

In Michigan, the event takes place at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield. Dr. Abdullah, a great poet himself, will conduct the Mushaira. For more details, please check: mumtazworld.com or miindia.com.

All famous and leading radio programs will announce this event as a community announcement free of charge. Sr. Mumtaz will run a special on Sunday, November 12, 2006 (between 9-11A.M. Dial AM 1460 or listen on www.wpon.com anywhere in the world via internet) on Nida Fazli. Narendra Sheth, Dr. Kelkar and Neleen Chandra will announce it too, as in previous years. Faiz Khan of Voice of Pakistan will have special announcements and interviews.

The Aligarh Alumni Associations is a not-for-profit, secular, non-political and non-sectarian organization which consists of alumni and their friends from both India and Pakistan and provides an ideal forum for people-to-people interaction among all religions and sects of South Asia.

Today, Aligs and Aligarians have joined hands in building bonds of commitment to meet the challenges of our times in the USA, AMU, and indeed all over the world. They have formed organizations in many cities to serve their communities. These far-flung individual organizations have united to form Federation of Aligarh Alumni Associations (FAAA).

The Federation of Aligarh Alumni Associations (www.aligs.org) is also helping other philanthropic organizations to develop infrastructure of education at primary and secondary levels of education.

It is helping in the logistics for achievement of “100% literacy in U.P.”, by participating in an initiative of AFMI (www.afmi.org).

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