Cakes, dances, speeches: Quaid’s 141st birthday marked in twin cities

Several cake-cutting events held as week-long festivities conclude

ISLAMABAD: Unity among the public, particularly among the youth, is the only way to realise the dream of turning the country’s into one envisioned by the founding father.

This was stated by speakers at several events in the twin cities and around the region to mark Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s 141st birth anniversary on Sunday.



One of the main events in the capital saw the conclusion of a week of activities organised by the Pakistan National Council of Arts at the Sports Complex, with a painting competition for children and school students, followed by a puppet show.

A cake baking competition was also held. Participants were vying for a Rs100,000 cash prize along with an opportunity to be featured on state television.



Finalists and winners of the tableau, national songs and speech contests also performed in the event. Earlier, a musical band from PNS Zafar performed the national anthem.

Addressing the event, Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb urged the people, particularly the young generation, to stand united. She called for promotion of and adherence to the vision and teachings of Jinnah in our daily lives.

She reminded that Quaid-e-Azam’s guiding principles of ‘unity, faith and discipline’ were essential for national development.

The ceremony was attended by cabinet members, parliamentarians, ambassadors from different countries, and hundreds of students from educational institutes of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, along with other and residents of the twin cities.



Aurangzeb claimed that some 25,000 students from the twin cities had participated in the week-long activities.

1,000 pound cake

To mark Jinnah’s 141st birth anniversary, a 1,000 pound cake was cut at the National Press Club. Islamabad Deputy Mayor Zeeshan Naqvi and other officials of the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation were joined at the event by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Dr Asif Kirmani.

Festivities in AJK

Quaid-e-Azam’s birth anniversary was celebrated in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday with traditional fervour.

The day dawned with special prayers in mosques throughout AJK for the integrity, solidarity, progress and prosperity of Pakistan and for the early success of the Kashmir freedom movement.

Various social, political and intellectual organizations held special programmes to celebrate the day.

In Mirpur, the major ceremony to celebrate the Quaid’s birthday was held by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation League (JKLL).

JKLL President Justice (Retd) Abdul Majeed Mallick and others paid tribute to Jinnah for his unprecedented services for the Muslims of the sub-continent.

Plagiarised speech not broadcast

After a young orator had gone to the Islamabad High Court against what he claimed was favouritism of powerful baboos at the Presidency to steal his speech, the speech did not hit the airwaves.



Sabeel Haider, 11, through his father Naseem Abbas Nasir, has approached the Islamabad High Court against the decision to replace him, “steal” the text of his speech, and give it to someone else without his consent. Justice Aamer Farooq on Friday reserved the verdict on the maintainability of the young orator’s petition.

The speech was not aired on Sunday, and Haider said that officials had assured him that the ‘plagiarised’ speech would not be included in rebroadcasts either.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2016.