RIYADH — The Pakistani community celebrated on Thursday night the birthday of Father of the Nation Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The celebration, organized by Insaf Social Society (ISS), was convened by Khayyam Akbar, the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission of Pakistan in the Kingdom, and attended by a large audience of the Pakistani community members in Riyadh at Al Hayat restaurant banquette hall east of Riyadh. The event started with a play on the suffering of Pakistani people since independence until today. It stressed that the principle of unity, faith, and discipline on which leader Jinnah based his idea for the creation of Pakistan should be the solution to the current challenges facing the country today. The play was followed by a speech by the Pakistani diplomat, Akbar. “Quaid-e-Azam, Jinnah, from nowhere, and in a most difficult situation, not only managed to bring the Muslims of the subcontinent together, but also succeeded in making sure that a separate homeland for them became a reality,” he said. “We should be always thankful for this and work as a nation to continue our efforts without having any feeling of hopelessness toward the challenges facing us today,” he added. Akbar called on the one and a half million Pakistanis living in the Kingdom to act as ambassador of the Pakistani nation and sincerely work hand in hand with their fellow Saudis. He asked them to continue to contribute to the progress of the Kingdom. Abdul Malik Mujahid, an Islamic scholar, and the operation manager of Riyadh-based Darussalam Publishers, which translated the Holy Qur'an into around 25 languages, offered details on the life of Jinnah and described him as a man of action more than a man of talk. Following the speeches, a short film was shown on the major challenges facing Pakistan, like unmanned drone attacks on civilians, poverty, floods, religious zeal, sectarian violence, political rivalry, and corruption. The film also showed clips of some Pakistani leaders addressing the public, and concluded by suggesting that the former cricket giant, Imran Khan, the founder and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, could be the ideal leader at present to lead Pakistan in the footsteps of the Quaid. Fawad Choudhary, President ISS, started his address by questioning the audience whether the Pakistani people were justifying what Pakistan was made for, in following the footsteps of the founder of the nation and exemplifying his principle of unity, faith, and discipline. He said the people are directly responsible of what is happening in Pakistan in terms of corruption and injustice, stressed the importance of rising up, and stop compromising on corruption of the leaders. Choudhary appealed to the Pakistanis working in the Kingdom to contribute more in building the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a fortress of Islam, a cause that leader Jinnah devoted himself to.
