HYDERABAD: Sindhi Culture Day was observed with traditional enthusiasm across the province on Sunday.

Jubilant men, women and children dressed in their cultural attire joined in several hundred rallies and attended open-air stage shows and musical programmes. They danced on the tunes of Sindhi cultural songs.

Cars, trucks and other vehicles decorated with Ajrak colours and buntings were seen moving on roads and streets and their occupants waving flags of different nationalist parties.

Tableaux highlighting Sindhi culture were staged at various roadside and indoor functions held in the evening.

Groups of revellers singing Sindhi nationalist and folk songs gathered outside the Hyderabad Press Club after walking and driving through various streets of the city.

A private Sindhi TV channel had built a stage to welcome the revellers. Various stalls were also set up on the road where cultural and embroidered dresses and other items were put on display. Singers and artists entertained them with their performance. Zafar Hakro and Faheem Babbar welcomed the revellers and described the occasion as ‘Cutlural Eid’.

An artist, Ghulam Hussain, known for his peacock dance performance, also entertained the audience. Camps and stalls were set up at Nasim Nagar Chowk and other public places, besides the Sindh Museum where another stage was set up by a different private TV channel.

People of Larkana, a city known for its rich Sindhi culture, literature, politics and consciousness, celebrated the occasion, titled by organisers as ‘Ekta (unity) Cultural Day’, with extraordinary zest and zeal.

A large number of people participated in the programme held at Jinnahbagh gate. Wearing Sindhi caps in vibrant multicolour and cone patterns, tying turbans and draping Ajraks on their shoulders, males of all ages were dressed in traditional Sindhi attire.

Every street of Larkana was adorned with the colors of Sindhi culture. Many citizens carried their young children on their shoulders and joined the main event. The city echoed throughout the day with slogans of ‘Jeay Sindh’, ‘Sindhi Culture Zindabad’ and ‘Sindhi language Zindabad’. The central ceremony was hosted by representatives of Sindhi media and Larkana Press Club.

The event began with the recitation of Bhitai’s wai. Prominent Sindhi singers, including Ustad Ghulam Shabir Samo, Raja Samo, Shiraz Abbasi, Saleem Raza Kumbhar, Sohni Naz, Sajan Myree and others, enthralled the audience with popular Sindhi national songs. They also performed Bhitai’s wai, Sufi kalam and works of Shaikh Ayaz, Ustad Bukhari and other renowned poets.

Musicians Naeem Samoon and Anoop accompanied the performers on instruments. Throughout the performances, youth, children and elders danced joyfully to Sindhi songs. Citizens showered flowers on the artists. Eminent folk poet Muhammad Yusuf Bhatti also received praise for reciting his folk poetry.

A large group of jubilant youths proceeded to the Larkana-Khairpur Indus River Bridge where they offered flowers and rose petals to the river as a tribute.

Similar gatherings were held in all cities and towns of Qambar-Shahdadkot, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts as well.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2025