A ceremony celebrating the birthday of founding father Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was held at Awan-e-Iqbal on Monday.
A large gathering of dignitaries attended the ceremony, including Federal Minister Samina Ghurki, Chairman of Awan-e-Iqbal Arif Nizami, Waleed Iqbal, nephew of renowned poet Allama Iqbal, and journalist Sohail Warraich.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ghurki said that the message of Jinnah and Iqbal was universal and applicable to Pakistan even today. She said that if their vision was applied to the nation, no power on Earth could stop Pakistan from progressing towards a stronger future. She further said that dictatorships had destroyed the nation.
Addressing the gathering, Arif Nizami said that the politicians had forgotten Jinnah’s vision and had adopted a foreign war that had led to the downfall of the country. He further said that certain elements in the country wanted to impose a theocratic rule and dictatorships had facilitated that desire. He said that all political leaders must unite against the dictatorships and be willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.
Sohail Warraich added that Jinnah had been very clear about his principles and had opted for parliamentary form of governance. He further said that Jinnah had given rights to minorities as he had understood the sufferings of minorities since Muslim were a minority of India before partition. He said that this vision of social equality must be implemented and such social reform should start from textbooks of students.
