Independence Day: Ceremonies highlight sacrifices for Pakistan

Flag-hoisting ceremonies held in several districts.

FAISALABAD/BAHAWALPUR/DERA GHAZI KHAN:

The Independence Day was celebrated with enthusiasm throughout Faisalabad on Thursday. The day started with special prayers for the prosperity and development of Pakistan and recitation of the Holy Quran at local mosques.

The main flag-hoisting function was held at the commissioner’s office.

Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Khalil Tahir Sindhu; lawmakers Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari, Shaikh Ejaz Ahmad, Faqir Hussain Dogar, Najma Afzal, Surayyia Naseem, Mian Tahir Jamil; Commissioner Sardar Akram Javed, RPO Ehsan Tufail, DCO Noorul Amin Mengal, CPO Suhail Habib Tajik and Pakistan Movement worker Shaikh Bashir Ahmad were present at the event.

Contingents of police, civil defence and Rescue 1122 presented a march past. The students of various educational institutions sang national songs. Speaking on the occasion, Sindhu said that we should follow the sayings of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to make the country a great nation.

“All political forces should agree on major national issues for strengthening democracy and Pakistan,” he said.

He congratulated the nation on celebrating the Independence Day.

Bashir Ahmad paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the Pakistan movement. “We can never forget those who laid down their lives in the freedom movement,” he said.

“Unity, peace, national consensus and solidarity are imperative for achieving the objectives for which Pakistan was established,” he said.

Prayers were offered for national solidarity and prosperity of the country.

Later, Sindhu and Mengal visited the Faisalabad District Headquarters Hospital and distributed sweets among patients.

Medical Superintendent Dr Zahid Malik, Dr Habib Buttar, EDO Asif Tara, Health EDO Dr Waqar Sadiq, Social Welfare district officer Wahida Iftikhar, Social Welfare Officer Aysha Anjum and office bearers of Anti-Narcotics Committee and the Patient Welfare Society were also present on the occasion.

Commissioner Sardar Akram Javed visited the Allied Hospital and cut a cake to celebrate the Independence Day. He also distributed sweets among the patients.

Allied Hospital Board of Management Chairman Mian Latif, Punjab Medical College Principal Dr Zahid Yasin Hashmi and Dr Rashid Maqbool were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, several events were held by non-government organisations to celebrate the Independence Day. A youth convention and a books exhibition were also held in the city.

The district administration decorated the roads, intersections, parks and other public places with national flags and portraits of national heroes.

An Azadi Mela was also arranged by the district administration at the Canal Road. A large number of people visited the fair.

Bahawalpur

In Bahawalpur, the main flag-hoisting ceremony was held at the Dring Stadium. Federal Education Minister Engineer Baligur Rehman, Punjab Cooperatives Minister Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar, the commissioner, the RPO, the DCO and the DPO attended the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Rehman said that the government was making all efforts for the progress of the country. “Pakistan Army is fighting against terrorists in North Waziristan,” he said.

“With the efforts of this government, we will soon regain our lost status in the international community,” he said.

The minister said that the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had appointed 80,000 teachers in the Punjab in the past five years on merit. “Our economy is improving and the GDP rate is increasing,” he said. The minister said that the government was taking all steps to end loadshedding.

“Work is in progress on the Bhasha and Dasoo dams. The government has started a number of hydro and coal projects to produce electricity,” he said.

“With the better management this year, loadshedding is 34 per cent less as compared to last year,” he said.

The Rescue 1122’s band and the boy scouts performed a march past at the end of the ceremony.

Dera Ghazi Khan

The flag-hoisting ceremony was held at Fort Munro. Border Military Police, Frontier Constabulary and police contingents performed a march past.

A national song competition was also held. The participants then took out a rally that ended at Kalma Chowk.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th,2014.