The Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Day is observed on December 6. The day is celebrated by the people of Sindh, province of Pakistan to express their loyalty to the Sindhi culture and it's thousands of year old cultural symbols, the traditional Sindhi Cap and Ajrak cloth.
The day was first conceived by the a Sindhi television channel KTN in November 2009 in response to a television anchors condemnation of President Asif Ali Zardari's wearing of the traditional Sindhi cap and shawl (representing Pakistan) on his state visit to attend the ceremony of swearing in of Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan for a second term.
The comments which were made on November 21, 2009 in the current affairs show Meray Mutabiq by Shahid Masood. The anchor's condemnation caused a wave of fury through out the province with the local language media calling for protests and apology. Then the sindhi media channel KTN gave a formal call for the day to be observed on first Sunday of December. The call was subsequently endorsed by all the parties of Sindh except the Pakistan Muslim League.
The culture of Sindh has its roots in the Indus Valley Civilization. Sindh has been shaped by the geography of the largely desert region, the natural resources it had available and the continuous foreign influences. The Indus or Sindhu River that passes through the land, and the Arabian Sea (that defines its borders) also supported the sea-faring traditions among the local people. The local climate also reflects why the Sindhis have the language, folklore, traditions, customs and lifestyle that are so different from the neighbouring regions
The roots of Sindhi culture and civilization go back to the distant past. Archaeological researches during 19th and 20th centuries showed the roots of social life, religion and culture of the people of the Sindh: their agricultural practices, traditional arts and crafts, customs and tradition and other parts of social life, going back to a ripe and mature Indus valley civilization of the third millennium B.C. Recent researches have traced the Indus valley civilization to even earlier ancestry.
Sindhi language is ancient and rich in literature. Its writers have contributed extensively in various forms of literature in both poetry and prose. Sindhi literature is very rich, and is one of the world's oldest literatures. The earliest reference to Sindhi literature is contained in the writings of Arab historians. It is established that Sindhi was the first Eastern language into the Quran, when it was translated in the eighth or ninth century A.D. There is evidence of Sindhi poets reciting their verses before the Muslim Caliphs in Baghdad. It is also recorded that treatises were written in Sindhi on astronomy, medicine and history during the eighth and ninth centuries.
Sindhi language is an ancient language spoken in Pakistan and many other parts of the world. It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 41 million people in Pakistan, and 12 million people in India; it is the second most spoken language of Pakistan, mostly spoken in the Sindh province. It is a recognized official language in Pakistan, and also an official language in India. Government of Pakistan issues National Identity Cards to its citizens only in two languages; Sindhi and Urdu.
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