Eid Milan party in Chicago. L to R Iftekhar Shareef, Ald Bernie Stone and Syed Minhaj
CHICAGO: The Sunday evening at Northshore Banquet on Devon attracted large number of diverse ethnic community members to celebrate the Eid festival. The event was organized just a day after Eid was celebrated in Chicago on Friday.
The alderman of 50th ward Bernie Stone was invited as the chief guest and this enhanced the spirit of celebration. Iftekhar Shareef, Tariq Siddiqui and Syed Minhaj organized the event. Modern melody nightingale Vijaya Lakshmi was invited from Hyderabad for the event. She sang popular Bollywood numbers for the audience. Spicy treats were served courtesy Data Darbar, Sesh Mahal Dhaba and Parwaz restaurant.
Bernie Stone congratulated all and said Eid Mubarak. He reminded that it was a significant year as the Eid coincided with Jewish New Year celebration. Alderman also condemned the pastor who claimed to be a ‘man of God’ and announced to burn the book of God.
Alderman said that the incident has been condemned by and large by all Americans. The City of Chicago Council also met and condemned it by passing a resolution with zero opposition. “We do not preach hatred in United States”, he said and the audience applauded him.
Iftekhar Shareef thanked all for joining the Eid celebrations. In his brief address, Shareef said Muslims all over the world have shown great restraint against the unfortunate attempt for Quran burning. But why the national media has created publicity hype for an irresponsible person.
He observed that Quran is a word of God and God himself has declared that he will safeguard it forever. If someone burns 300 copies, 30,000 copies are distributed. Moreover, he reminded Quran is memorized by heart by thousands of Muslims all over the world. And that is the way Quran is protected forever by God. FIA president Sunny Ghabawala, vice president Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Trustee Babu Patel and Usha Kamaria were among the guests.
Madhu Reddy, President Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago and former president of American Telugu Association (ATA) was also invited as the guest of honor for the event. He congratulated all for Eid celebrations and wished peace for all. Keerthi Kumar was invited as a Christian representative.
AQ Siddiqui
India Post News Service
