Pakistani diaspora living in Canada marked the 82nd anniversary of the Pakistan Day Resolution in a befitting manner by holding various programmes and activities to exhibit their love for the motherland and pay tribute to the founding fathers of Pakistan.
The day’s leading event was the flag hoisting ceremony held at the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa where Pakistan’s Acting High Commissioner Mr. Shahbaz Malik hoisted the National Flag to the accompaniment of the National Anthem.
A large number of Pakistani Canadians and dignitaries, including Pakistan-born Canadian Senator and winner of Sitara-e-Pakistan Award Ms. Salma Ata ullah Jan, Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia and Senator Victor Oh, attended the function. Messages of the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan in connection with the Pakistan Day were also read out on the occasion.
Addressing the participants, Acting High Commissioner Shahbaz Malik contextualised the background and significance of the Pakistan Day and paid glowing tributes to the country’s founding fathers for their visionary efforts and struggle for carving out a separate homeland for the Muslims of subcontinent. He said the atrocities committed against the Muslims in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India had vindicated the idea of Pakistan and the Two-Nation Theory.
On the occasion, Senator Ms. Salma Ata ullah Jan was also decorated on behalf of the President of Pakistan with the Sitara e Pakistan conferred on her for her meritorious services for the cause of community and the promotion of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Canada.
Elsewhere, separate flag hoisting ceremonies were also arranged by the Consulate General of Pakistan in Toronto, Consulate General of Pakistan in Vancouver as well as the Consulate General of Pakistan in Montreal. Different cultural and food festivities were also arranged by various organisations and associations of the Pakistani Canadians across Canada.
Meanwhile, a large number of Pakistani Canadians under the banner of Salam Pakistan Canada gathered in Ottawa to mark the Pakistan Day. The event was also attended by Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson, Ottawa City Councillor Eli-El Shantri, Member Parliament of Canada Paul Chiang from Toronto and MP Chandra Arya from Ottawa. Pakistan High Commission Counsellor Attia Iqbal and Counsellor Hamid Raza Wattoo also attended the function.
