By Mir Mohsin Ali
For Daijiworld Media Network—Riyadh (CN)

Riyadh, Jun 24: Ghazal maestro Khalid Iqbal was felicitated by the Riyadh-Andhra Pradesh united society (APUS) at a dinner held at the Red Onion Restaurant in the city, recently.

Hailing from Hyderabad, Iqbal was in the Saudi capital to perform in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Deccan cultural association (DCA). The felicitation function was presided over by Dr Mohammed Ashraf Ali, president, APUS. Shamim Khan, chairman, DCA, was the chief guest.

In his presidential address, Dr Ali said that the APUS was ready to help any organization and was always open to conducting programs beneficial to the community. He added that he was a great fan of Iqbal since witnessing one of his programmes at the Indian embassy some time ago.

Dr Ali congratulated the DCA on completing a decade and thanked the association for providing APUS the opportunity to felicitate Iqbal. Meanwhile Khan commended the  APUS on being a very active association as they conducted many functions and seminars.

He also appreciated the fact that the society has good representation in the Andhra Pradesh government and congratulated APUS members for their support to the community.  Noted poetess, story-writer and journalist Azra Naqvi, and Abdul Qayyum Muqfi were among the attendees. 

The event also had a recitation of the Quran by Hafez Aleemuddin and ‘Naat’ written by Dr Ali. Guests were gifted with a traditional shawl and other items.