ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Social Center Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hosted a mango festival, celebrating the most beloved fruit produced in the South Asian country, according to a statement released by the community organization on Wednesday.
Established in the 1980s, the center serves as a vital hub for the Pakistani community in Sharjah, promoting cultural, educational and social welfare activities.
It periodically organizes festivals and events to support greater integration within the diaspora community.
“The Pakistan Social Center Sharjah, in collaboration with the Pakistani community, hosted its 7th Annual Mango Festival, a celebration of Pakistan’s national fruit,” the statement said. “The event aimed to promote Pakistani produce globally and foster community spirit among expatriates.”
The festival displayed more than 25 varieties of mangoes produced in Pakistan.
Addressing the occasion, the center’s president, Khalid Hussain Chaudhry, highlighted the importance of increasing mango exports and educating younger generations about different varieties of the fruit.
“This year’s Mango Mela [festival] was our most successful yet,” he added.
The event attracted a large number of Pakistani expatriates and other residents of Sharjah, demonstrating the popularity of Pakistani mangoes in the UAE.
Pakistani community hosts mango festival in Sharjah to celebrate beloved South Asian fruit
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Pakistani community hosts mango festival in Sharjah to celebrate beloved South Asian fruit
- The 7th Annual Mango Festival displayed more than 25 varieties of the fruit produced in Pakistan
- The event attracted a large number of Pakistani expatriates along with other residents of Sharjah
Pakistani students stuck in Afghanistan permitted to go home
- The border between the countries has been shut since Oct. 12
- Worries remain for students about return after the winter break
JALALABAD: After three months, some Pakistani university students who were stuck in Afghanistan due to deadly clashes between the neighboring countries were “permitted to go back home,” Afghan border police said Monday.
“The students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (northwest Pakistan) who were stuck on this side of the border, only they were permitted to cross and go to their homes,” said Abdullah Farooqi, Afghan border police spokesman.
The border has “not reopened” for other people, he said.
The land border has been shut since October 12, leaving many people with no affordable option of making it home.
“I am happy with the steps the Afghan government has taken to open the road for us, so that my friends and I will be able to return to our homes” during the winter break, Anees Afridi, a Pakistani medical student in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, told AFP.
However, worries remain for the hundreds of students about returning to Afghanistan after the break ends.
“If the road is still closed from that side (Pakistan), we will be forced to return to Afghanistan for our studies by air.”
Flights are prohibitively expensive for most, and smuggling routes also come at great risk.
Anees hopes that by the time they return for their studies “the road will be open on both sides through talks between the two governments.”
