More the occasions to meet and greet, the better it is for the community to bond. To wrap up the past year’s spree of activities and to bring their community together one more time, the Indian Association of Bihar and Jharkhand (IABJ), Doha, will celebrate the Bihar and Jharkhand Diwas 2016 on Friday. 
The five-hour-long cultural programme will flag off at 5pm at Al Maha Boys Academy, Ain Khalid. The event is expected to draw an audience of around 400 and the Chief Guest of the evening is the Finance Minister of the Government of Bihar, Abdul Bari Siddiqui. 
IABJ President Sajjad Alam told Community, “Throughout the past year, we had held a series of activities such as Qur’an reciting competition, New Year’s Eve gathering, Qatar Sport Day, Eid Milan, Diwali, and Holi. Several children and members of IABJ won prizes in various competitions held during those events. 
So Bihar and Jharkhand Diwas is the day when we felicitate the winners with prizes, and also fete the executive members of the organisation, who have worked so hard throughout the year, with tokens of appreciation.”
At the gathering, there will be a kids’ fashion show featuring the funkiest of children’s clothes. “Apart from performing the state anthem and the Indian national anthem, the programme will witness some folk songs of Bihar and Jharkhand. There will be speeches and a recounting of some interesting community work done by members of IABJ and how IABJ addresses the community’s needs. For instance, within the limits of the law, we have helped workers leave the country for emergency reasons back home.”
Earlier this month, on April 7, IABJ organised the First International Mushaira on the occasion of Bihar Diwas 2016 to a great response. At the poetry symposium, IABJ feted Urdu poets Nomaan Shouque and M R Chishti with the Shad Azimabadi Award and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Award respectively, for their services in the field of literature.
In addition to socio-cultural and community welfare activities, IABJ has a history of organising literary programmes. Syed Shakeb Ayaz, chief patron of IABJ, took up the initiative of organising the symposium this year and all IABJ executive committee members and Mushaira coordinators worked in unison to execute the plan, and showcase to the larger community of Qatar the delights of Urdu poetry.
In view of a considerable number of Biharis and Jharkhandis working in Qatar, IABJ was founded by Shakil Ahmed Kakvi, Mirza Hamid Ali, Aslam Parvez, Zafar Khan and many others at CCC Camp, Messaieed in May 2000. IABJ describes itself as a socio-cultural non-profit organisation in Qatar for community development and welfare of the people, of other community at large and people of Bihar and Jharkhand in particular.
From carrying out regular consultation in different camps to increase awareness among the people of Bihar and Jharkhand about local laws, their rights and responsibilities, to organising cricket matches and blood donation drives, IABJ covers a wide array of community work. 
It also participates in the Health camp of Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) and community developmental programmes in collaboration with ICC-affiliated organisations and their own programmes. “We have around 400 members and most of them actively participate in our events,” Alam said, “For the New Year’s eve gathering, for instance, more than 300 of us gathered at Wakrah.”
What perhaps brought IABJ’s work into spotlight was its help to the victims of the 2008 Kosi Flood. Its many community developmental programmes including Mushairah, which involves bringing down to Doha poets from Bihar and Jharkhand, and celebrating Bihar Diwas in Qatar is a regular feature in collaboration with Bihar Foundation, Qatar Chapter.
The functional committee has gone through changes from time to time as per the requirements for better functioning of IABJ. Interestingly, the functional committee invited various community leaders of Qatar to become members of the advisory board and they honoured IABJ’s request – Hassan Chougule, Azim Abbas, M S Bukhari, Syed Abdul Hye, Habibunnabi and Nilangshu Dey.
“The highlight of community organisations such as IABJ is how it brings the people of our community together so that they get to share their troubles and concerns with others, and thereby feel stronger to face the challenges away from home. At every event, people get to meet others and understand each other’s happiness and pain, and learn something from it,” Alam said.

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