JEDDAH:

An evening to bid farewell to Dr. Irshad Ahmed, consul for press, information and culture, on completing his four-year term at the Consulate General of India in Jeddah was held recently.

 It was organized by Jeddah-based community welfare organizations from Telangana, including Khak-e-Taiba Trust, Urdu Academy, Deccan NRIs, Noor Education Society, Pain & Palliative Care Trust and Telangana Welfare Foundation.

 Ahmed thanked the Telangana organizations for holding the event in his honor. He spoke about his memorable experiences in the Kingdom and applauded the hospitality of the Hyderabadi community residing in Jeddah.

 “People living in this holy land are very blessed and very proactive when it comes to community welfare,” he said, adding he will miss the Indian community.

Ahmed said he enjoyed his stay in Jeddah and felt very fortunate to be able to help the expats residing here.

The evening commenced with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Hafiz Noor, followed by a heart touching naat by Khalid Hussain.

Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig, along with senior community members, welcomed Chief Guest Ahmed and lauded the brotherly hand he had extended toward overseas Indians.

The presidents and vice presidents of the Telangana organizations praised Ahmed for his dedication to the Indian community and in organizing various events; specifically pointing out the large-scale mushaira held at the Consulate of India and promotion of the Urdu language in a foreign land.

Ahmed was presented with a plaque of appreciation. Members of the Telangana organizations said they would not say goodbye to Ahmed but would rather say “see you soon.” They said they are looking forward to seeing Ahmed soon in Jeddah on a new assignment.

One of the key hosts of the event, Imran Kausar, gave the audience an overview of the consul and his achievements.

He started his career as an Arabic lecturer in Jamia Millia Islamia in 1995; he later joined the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in 2001. His first foreign posting was at the Embassy of Riyadh as third secretary (Information and Culture from 2003 to 2005; then he was transferred to Consulate General of India, Jeddah as consul (Education and Culture) from 2005 to 2008.

He then worked as undersecretary (Gulf) from 2008 to 2012 and was then posted to the Consulate General of India, Jeddah again where he continued his posting as consul (Press, Information & Culture) from 2012.

He will continue his new assignment at the Ministry of External Affairs (headquarters) in New Delhi, India.

Leading members of the community at the event included Shameem Kausar, Siadat Ali Khan, Hasan Bayazeed, Jamal Qadri, Abdul Razzak, Abdul Wahab, Asimuddin Ansari, Aslam Afghani, Asif Daudi, Tahir Ali, Noorul Amin, Majid Saleem, Munawar Khan, Mazharullah Jibran, Sheikh Ibrahim, Rashid Razzak, Saleem Farooqui, Mahmood Misri, Ghazanfar Zaki, Mir Arif Ali, Abdul Rafay and Liaqat Ali Khan.

source: http://www.arabnews.com / Arab News / Home> Saudi Arabia / Wednesday – April 26th, 2017