Indians in Qatar celebrate Independence Day on grand scale

The Indian expatriate community in Qatar celebrated their homeland's 79th Independence Day on a grand scale Friday.

The official ceremony at the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) in the morning saw ambassador, Vipul offering floral tributes to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and hoisting the national flag amidst the rendering of the national anthem.

Other diplomats from the embassy as well as several leaders of the community along with a large number of community members joined the envoy on the occasion in a great display of patriotic pomp and fervour.

Following by the flag hoisting, ambassador Vipul read out excerpts from the address of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu to the nation delivered on the eve of Independence Day.

Addressing the nation, Murmu said: “Our Constitution contains four values as the four pillars upholding our democracy. They are - justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. These are our civilisational principles that we re-discovered during the Freedom Struggle.”

“At the heart of them all, I believe, is the notion of human dignity. Every human being is equal, and everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. Everyone should have equal access to healthcare and education. Everyone should have equal opportunity. Those who had been traditionally at a disadvantage needed to be given a helping hand,” President Murmu, highlighted in her speech.

Speaking at the ICC event, ambassador Vipul highlighted the deepening of the diplomatic ties between India and Qatar and stressed the establishment of strategic partnership between the two countries during the highly successful visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to India in February this year.

“There were some very significant decisions taken during His Highness's visit including declaring our bilateral relations as strategic partnership. Two agreements and several MoUs were signed during the visit which should take forward our relations in several areas such as trade, investment, business networks, technology, energy, culture and sports,” he said.

“I would request all members of our community, especially those in influential positions, to do their best to take forward our relations to newer heights as envisaged by our leaderships. In particular, I would request all businessmen to look into how we can further enhance trade between our two countries. We also need to promote more cultural and tourism exchanges between India and Qatar,” continued the ambassador.

The Indian envoy expressed gratitude to His Highness the Amir and the Government Qatar for their continued support and patronage to the Indian community. Applauding the role and contributions of the Indian community, ambassador said, " Indians in Qatar play a pivotal role in India's development and growing ties with the world.” He also commended the various Indian community organisations for their unwavering support in advancing community welfare and progress.

The formal function was also marked by several cultural performances including patriotic songs and dances presented by various Indian organisations in Qatar. The ceremony came to a conclusion as the ambassador along with leaders of the apex bodies under the embassy cut a cake to celebrate the occasion.

ICC president A P Manikantan welcomed the gathering and general secretary Abraham K Joseph proposed a vote of thanks.