Theme: Thar Badlay Ga Pakistan

TEDxIslamkot is the first ever TEDx event in Tharparkar, Sindhi. This unique event of its own kind aims to bring the unheard ideas from the land of Thar.

Khushal Thar Office
Islamkot, Tharparkar, Sindh
Islamkot, Sindh, 69240
Pakistan

Aasoo Bai

Educationist

Aasu bai, a handicapped Thari woman, is also one of those people who didn’t care about any of the hurdles she faced to bring change in the lives of the people of Tharparkar. She struggled for 2 decades and still continues it to make education popular in Tharparkar. She taught poor children and made education her first priority. She ran a home based school by her own without any financial from outside. Later she was much appreciated by then government of Sindh and her home based school was converted into a government school. Her beliefs and determination made the whole nation proud when she was called to White House in USA and was presented with an award for promotion of education.

Arieb Azhar

Musician and Director

Arieb Azhar who’s an assets to the music industry of Pakistan for last 20 years. Arieb has produced a number of documentaries on music and culture, He is the founder of the Music Mela and Art Langar Festival in Islamabad. Coming from a background of Television and Theater, Azhar surely have that passion in his veins and has a God gifted voice. He is currently serving as an executive director at T2F. Besides everything, Arieb is also famous for his Sufi and folk songs and has got a lot of appreciation from Coke Studio where he sung the Sufi kalam Husn-e-Haqiqi. He gave vocals to the classical lyrics of Khawaja Ghulam Farid, Bulleh Shah, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh and even contemporary lyrics of Sarmad Sabhai. The man has been writing in Dawn about the culture and society and has impressed many around the world through his research and his graceful, melodious and sufi personality.

Faraz Ahmed

A musician from the Maghrar Community of Tharparkar.

Javed Malik

Author

Javed Ahmed Malik worked in rural transformation programmes for the past 18 years in all four provinces of Pakistan as well as in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and FATA and visited over 5000 rural households in close to 1000 villages. Javed led DFID's largest £450M education programme in the world in Punjab for seven years (2009-16) while leading Education Reform roadmap along with partners like McKinsey & Company, the World Bank and Government of Punjab's department of Education, Finance and Planning and Developments with game changing results on ground. Other than Pakistan he worked in South Sudan and Afghanistan and had short term consulting assignments in Tanzania, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and USA with all major development organizations and UN systems.

Mai Dhai

Performer

Hailing from Tharparkar, Sindh and a very humble family background; Mai Dhai who is an epitome of culture, someone with a soulful voice and the strong vocals that will take you to the roads of Thar. She made her first public appearance in eighth season of Coke Studio on national television through her two mesmerising melodies. She has also made Pakistan proud on a global level when she made it to the City University of New York last year.

Mohini Bai

Mohini Bai is challenging stereotypes all around her. She hails from a place where the thought of a woman driving is not only frowned upon but also strongly discouraged as it is assumed that a woman’s only function is to take care of her responsibilities at home. She Drives a Female Dump Truck, which are the biggest trucks in Pakistan clocking in at a massive 60 tonnes.

Qasim Siraj

Policy Maker

Qasim Siraj Soomro was the leader who raised his voice to throw light upon the problems Thari community was facing because of water shortage. He is the member of Provincial Assembly of Sindh and continued his struggle for the rights of the people of Thar. He stepped forward to solve the problem of water and cause of diseases and nutritious issues because of water scarcity. In his reign, he has continued to fulfill his promises and proposed schemes which are really beneficial for the people. He introduced many new projects in the area to preserve water through small dams. He has established health and secondary education facilities in thickly populated areas. He also planted solar power plan to solve the problems of people. To grow the economy of Tharparkar he has also promoted tourism industry and connected rural areas with cities though road network. His major contribution is his efforts to put Nanagarparkar in UNESCO’s list which has increased the hoped of change in Thar.

Samar Khan

Adventure Athlete, mountaineer, cyclist

First woman in the world to cycle a top 4,500 meter high Biafo Glacier in the Karakorum Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan. First Pakistani to have cycled on the 'Roof Of Africa',Uhuru Peak, Kilimanjaro.

Sattar Jogi

In the neighborhood of Umarkot there is a small residency of people whose life revolves around flutes and snakes. Sattar Jogi is also one of the resident of this area who finds proud in his legacy. He learned to play flute from his father initially who himself was a famous flutist in the area. Later he polished his skills under native teachers. His talent was heard and much appreciated not just in the desert but also around the country. He plays flute not just in the Sindhi tone but in Punjabi, Balochi and Pashto as well. He received Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai Award for his exceptional work. His awesome command on the instrument leaves you in everlasting mesmerized state and you wouldn’t want to stop listening to him.

Syed Abul Fazal Rizvi

CEO, Engineer

Mr. Rizvi holds a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University, USA. He started his professional career in 1996 in the US, where he worked for a year as a design engineer. He returned to Pakistan in 1998 and joined Engro Fertilizers Ltd as Project Engineer, Urea Manufacturing Plant in Daharki, Sindh. During 2007 – 2011, Mr. Rizvi served as the Construction Manager for EnVen project, a 1.3 million tons per annum urea plant in Daharki, which was at that time the World’s Largest single-train Ammonia-Urea Plant. In 2012, he was transferred to Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co where he served as Project Development Manager (June 2012-Jan 2014) and Director Mining (Jan 2014 – Mar 2016) before becoming the Chief Operating Officer in 2016. Since joining SECMC, he has played a pivotal role in the development of the first ever open-pit coal mine in Pakistan.