Abdul Rahman M. Baig

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — A cross section of Indian community representing various associations gathered under the banner of Indian Communities Jeddah (ICJ) Friday to felicitate and welcome the new Consul General of India Bawa Syed Mubarak at the Trident hotel.



Mubarak expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome accorded to him by the Indian community in the Western Province and urged their support to enhance the Indian mission's endeavor to upgrade Haj operation, help needy Indians, boost business ties and project India in best light.



Mubarak, who earlier had a brief stint at the Indian Consulate as consul Haj, was instrumental in streamlining the operation and has brought new features for this year's pilgrimage.



In his address, he highlighted the role of technology and said that he would like to reach out to all Indians, particularly the youth through social media, adding he’ll have a transparent communication system with the community.



Mubarak extolled the endeavors of the Indian community in ensuring a modern education system at the Indian schools and said the youth were the future of the country.



He also said it was an erroneous approach to strive for just academic excellence. No doubt academic excellence is an important factor but equally important is leadership quality and overall awareness. He said these qualities played pivotal role in qualifying any competition, particularly the Civil Services.



He pledged to take into account the need to provide for admissions to all Indian children, a plea made earlier by Dr. Karimuddin asking him to make school admissions a priority, and would strive for a very sound solution.



He thanked ICJ for organizing the function under one banner as it truly reflected unity in diversity.



Dr. Karimuddin, in his welcome address, had requested Mubarak to take the initiative for the construction of a new building for school as around 5,000 children were refused admissions last year for want of space in the existing buildings.



Sharing his Palestine experience, he said it was a great country with great people. Their hospitality was unforgettable. They use to treat all the outsiders as guests of their country. There was hardly any crime and women were safe.



He praised Saudi Arabia for its hospitality and the opportunities provided to the Indian community, who have acquired a very special place in Kingdom's professional market.



"I think I have a better opportunity now (as the consul general) to interact with the community and understand their needs. I love to explore and contribute to this country as well as ours. I am trying to bring technology and social media to interact among all the communities. I would like to tell all my young Indians that you should always keep enhancing your qualifications and capabilities that will make you more relevant," Mubarak said.



Earlier, V.K. Rauf, representing Kerala community in ICJ welcomed Mubarak.



He said Mubarak had left his mark when he was consul Haj at the mission.



He recalled Mubarak' previous farewell in which all prayed for his return as consul general.



"Today our prayers are answered," he said pledging all support to him in his every effort.



Huma Khan then formally introduced the new Consul General and his wife. She revealed Mubarak, born in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, had his initial schooling from Little Flower Chennai, and graduated from Vivekananda College of Madras University with Honors in Zoology.



He did his Masters in Marine Biology in Aqua culture from Center of advance studies. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration.



He is from 2001 Foreign Services (IFS) batch. After joining the Foreign Service he studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo from 2003-2004.



Mubarak’s wife Lathifa is a Home Science graduate. They have a daughter Manaal and a son Abdul Mannan.



On behalf of the Indian community in the Western Province, Siadat Ali Khan while welcoming the consul general said that memories of his contribution as consul Haj was still fresh in people's mind.



He said there were nearly 50 organizations under the banner of Indian Communities Jeddah and on behalf of all those organizations, "I assure you of our complete commitment to all Indians in the Kingdom. We will work untiringly for their welfare. I have been asked to pledge support of all the 50 organizations to your future endeavors. In your all efforts you will find us behind you."



Earlier Dr. Fouzia Ahmed presented a welcome bouquet to Lathifa Mubarak, while Zia Nadwi presented  a bouquet to B.S. Mubarak.

Mohammed Sayeeduddin presented a directory and profile of all organizations under ICJ.



Farzan Rizvi, President, AMUOBA Western Province, welcomed the new consul general and said as consul Haj he started the system of providing SIM cards to the pilgrims and now this year he has introduced the GPRS system for pilgrims to keep a track of all the Indian pilgrims.



Dr. Sayed Ali Mahmood (Bazm E Ittehad Jeddah), Mohammed Rafiyah (Tamil Sangam), Arif Qureshi (Indian Cultural Society), V.T Mohammed (Jeddah Keralites Forum) and many other prominent community members welcomed the consul general on behalf of their organizations.



ICJ core committee consists of Siadat Ali Khan from Telangana, V. K. Rauf from Kerala, Aziz Kidwai from UP, Syed Naser Khurshid from Karnataka, Khader Khan from Maharashtra, Mohammed Rafiyah from Tamil Nadu and Syed Sharique Ali from Bihar.



Prominent ghazal singer Ustad Nizam Ali Khan regaled the audience with some very popular and melodious ghazals.



Sheikh Mohammed Khaliq was the master of the ceremony and Fahad recited verses from Qur’an to start the program. Sharique Ali proposed the vote of thanks.