Pakistani Professional Community (PPC), a group of Pakistani professional expatriates, recently organised an event to mark Quaid-e-Azam Day, 143rd birth anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan and Pakistan’s first Governor–General, at Salt n Pepper restaurant.
The event was attended by large number of people, including families and children. Community representatives and young students highlighted the struggles of Jinnah and his team for creation of a separate homeland and his vision about the future of the country on the occasion, which was followed by various patriotic songs. A detailed documentary film about the life-long journey of Quaid-e-Azam and his political struggle during the British era in India was also presented.
The event also featured a quiz competition about Jinnah and his life. The young students also presented their drawings underlining different aspects of Quaid’s personality.
The event was conducted by Anwar Ali Rana. He introduced various segments of the event and said that December 25 is celebrated every year by the Pakistani expatriate community in Qatar to remember their great leader and pay tribute to him for his selfless struggle for Pakistan.
Arshad Hussain, Chief Co-ordinator of PPC, spoke about the leadership qualities of Jinnah. He said, “I thank all the guests and families to join us in remembering our beloved leader. Quaid-e-Azam’s life epitomises all the qualities of a real leader. He had very high vision. He had the power to connect to his people and he was selfless in his struggle. There is a great lesson for the young students. They need to have a clear vision about what they want to achieve in life and then struggle for it vigorously.”
Fahad Ismail, a young student, underscored the hopes Quaid-e-Azam had with youth and students of Pakistan. He said. “In his speech to students at Islamia College Peshawar, Quaid-e-Azam had stressed upon the youth to ensure three things: discipline, education, and training. PPC today has given a chance to the young students to pay tribute to their great leader.”
Anushey Tariq, a student of Grade-X, delivered speech on the topic of ‘Leadership role of Quaid-e-Azam prior to the creation of Pakistan’. Speaking on the occasion, she said, “The eldest of the seven siblings, Jinnah was born in Karachi on December 25, 1876. A barrister by profession, he started taking part in politics in London in the last years of 19th century. He gradually developed his own political outlook.
“Jinnah joined Indian National Congress in 1906. He later joined All India Muslim League in 1913 and eventually became its president in 1934. He became successful in uniting all major Muslim political leaders of combined India under the Muslim League banner. Soon, he became the undisputed leader for the Muslims all over India. He had long negotiations with the British rulers and the Congress leaders about how India would shape post-independence. He, however, realised that a separate county for the Indian Muslims was inevitable.”
Almas, another student, highlighted how Qaid-e-Azam was able to translate his dreams to reality. She said, “He fought for Pakistan with reason and logic. His selfless struggle went through numerous challenges but the man stood firm and unshaken.
“His office as first governor general of Pakistan was not a bed of roses. The new state faces multiple problems like refugee rehabilitation, future of princely states, no regular system to run the affairs of the state and financial constraints. He however tackled all these issues unparalleled.”
Tahir Jamil, a noted community representative and an Urdu poet, praised Jinnah and Pakistan via his poetry.
Speaking on the occasion, Janan Khan, a well-known Pakistan community leader, said, “I thank PPC for organising the event to celebrate birthday of Quaid-e-Azam. We need to introduce our younger generation with the ideas and vision of our great leaders.”
Amir Khan, an entrepreneur who sponsored the event, added: “I am happy to be a part of the celebration and see how enthusiast our young generation is about our leader. We need to follow the ideals of Quaid-e-Azam because that is the only way forward for Pakistan.”