Lord Sheikh was the chief guest at a dinner organised by the Punjabi Society to celebrate the festival of Diwali. Lord Sheikh referred to the fact that Punjabis are a very hard-working community and have done well wherever they have settled. Lord Sheikh said that Punjabi was the second most common language spoken in the United Kingdom and is spoken by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs as well as Christians. Lord Sheikh also commended the Punjabis for their charitable work and made a donation of £1000 for the charities supported by the Punjabi Society.