Sindh Culture Day is observed on December 4th, 5th, 6th. The day is celebrated by the people of Sindh, province of Pakistan to express their loyalty to the Sindhi culture and its thousands of year old cultural symbols, the traditional Sindhi Cap and Ajrak cloth. When the day was celebrated for the first time in 2009, it was referred to as "Sindhi Topi Day" (Sindhi Hat Day),[1] however in 2010 it was universally referred to as "Sindh Culture Day".[2]
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The compaign for the day was first started by a young Sindhi Hasan of Balhreji (Dokri, Distt Larkana) in November 2009 through SMS service 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.[3]
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 throughout the province with the local-language media calling for protests and apology.
The day is observed on the first Sunday of December. The dates for 2011 was notified as 20th of November in order to accommodate the Holy month of Muharram expected to commence on 26th of November 2011. in 2009 it was 6th of December and in 2010 it was 5th December.
The day began with rallies and walks in all the district head quarters of the province. Residents throughout the province donned the caps and danced to the folk songs, reaffirming their resolve to protect the Sindh motherland from conspirators.
The call mobilized the people who started purchasing of Sindhi caps all over Sindh. Such enthusiasm from the masses resulted in historic sale of Sindhi Topi with people purchasing it on high prices and sharing it with each other after the stocks ran out.
The day gave a look of mass celebrations since the morning and the groups of youth found in dancing on the famous song of Ahmed Mughal “Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Wara Jian”, at different parts of provinces, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana,Benazirabad, Thatta, Jamshoro, Shahdad Kot, Jacobabad, Mirpur Khas,Dadu etc.
Series of motorcade rallies were brought out in various cities which after passing various roads would culminate in front of the respective Press Clubs, which become centers of the celebrations.
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