TIA correspondent

NEW DELHI : Qaumi Ekta Week (National Integration Week) will be observed all over the country from Friday (November 19). Several programmes, with a specific theme would be organised during the week.

Though the Qaumi Ekta Week is observed from November 19-25 every year silently, this year Home Minister P. Chidambaram wants this week to be gala and meaningful.. Chidambaram has written to different Ministries for organising programmes/events befitting the occasion. “The week should foster and re-inforce the spirit of communal harmony, national integration and pride in our vibrant composite culture and nationhood”, he said.

The National Foundation for Communal Harmony (HFCH),  an  autonomous  organisation  with  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  also  organises Communal Harmony Campaign during the week.

Symposia, seminars, special literary, cultural functions and programmes to would be highlight of the week. The week would begin with National Integration Pledge.  National Integration, Welfare of Minorities, Linguistic Harmony, Weaker Sections and Cultural Unity would be the hallmark of the week.

The occasion provides an opportunity to reaffirm age old traditions and faith in the values of tolerance, co-existence and brotherhood in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

The “Qaumi Ekta Week” will also help to highlight the inherent strength and resilience to withstand actual and potential threats to the eclectic and secular fabric of country, and nurture a spirit of communal harmony in its widest sense.