Rallies staged across Sindh on Defence Day

Tributes paid to martyrs, defenders of nation

HYDERABAD:

The people of Sindh celebrated the defence day with patriotic fervour by taking part in rallies, sports events, seminars and other activities, arranged by both the government and private organisations. The people honoured the martyred soldiers who laid down their lives to defend the country in the September 1965 War.

Special events took place in the universities, colleges and schools across the province. In every city rallies playing national anthems were taken out. Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Sindh University and Cadet College Petaro in Jamshoro district; Sindh Agriculture University in Hyderabad and University of Sufism in Bhit Shah, Matiari, organised events in connection with the day.

In Hyderabad two ceremonies were organised to mark the day at Niaz Cricket Stadium and at the Public School Hyderabad. In the former event two teams of female crickets, dubbed at Mayor Eleven Blues and Mayor Eleven Greens, played the match.

Addressing the ceremony at the Public School, Commissioner Hyderabad Bilal Ahmed Memon paid tribute to the martyrs. Memon said Pakistan's enemy still remembered its defeat in the 1965 war. He added that if the United Nations had not intervened, Pakistan would have liberated the occupied Kashmir in the war of 1965. Several rallies, which started from different localities in Hyderabad, ended outside the city's press club.

The provincial commerce minister Jam Ikramullah Dharejo said at an event in Larkana district that Pakistan's enemies have been relentlessly trying to weaken the country and the wars like 1965 are just bigger and easily noticeable manifestations of their evil designs. The commissioner Larkana Ghulam Mustafa Phul and DC Dr Sharjeel Noor Channa also spoke on the occasion which took place at Begum Nusrat Bhutto Hall.

The Sindh Education Department organised a seminar in Shaheed Benazirabad district to commemorate the day. The speakers, which included Commissioner Syed Muhammad Sajjad Haider and Mayor Kazi Rasheed Bhatti, said the defence day is also celebrated to bring into the knowledge of the new generation the sacrifices which the soldiers had offered in defence of the country.