KARACHI, 26 December 2005 — The 129th birth anniversary of the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was celebrated yesterday with great enthusiasm and nationalistic fervor.
The day dawned with special prayers in mosques across the country. People paid rich tributes to the services rendered by the great leader. Various political, social and literary organizations organized different programs to mark the day in a befitting manner.
Newspapers brought out special supplements on the Quaid yesterday. Radio Pakistan and TV channels arranged special programs on the life, ideas and achievements of the Quaid. An exhibition titled “Rare Glimpses of the Quaid” highlighting the multi-faceted personality of the founder of the nation through his photographs was also organized.
In Karachi, at the mausoleum of the great leader, a change of guards ceremony took place in which cadets of the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, assumed the guard duties.
In the change of guards ceremony Commandant PMA Maj. Gen. Ahsan Azhar Hayat was the chief guest. Karachi city was decorated with colorful buntings. National flags were hoisted on government and semi-government buildings. People in large number visited Jinnah’s mausoleum to pay tribute to the father of the nation.
Paying glowing tributes to Jinnah for his great qualities of leadership, President Pervez Musharraf said steps have been taken for making Pakistan a prosperous and dynamic country as envisioned by its founder.
“It is a matter of great satisfaction and reassurance that measures have been initiated which will go a long way in establishing a prosperous and dynamic Pakistan as envisioned by the Quaid-e-Azam,” he said in his message to the nation on the Quaid’s birth anniversary.
In his statement, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz urged the people to renew their pledge to rise above parochialism, provincialism and extremism and play due role in the nation building with the spirit infused by the founding father during the independence movement.
