JEDDAH — On the auspicious occasion of the 67th Independence Day of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a splendid and colorful function was organized by the Pakistan Journalist Forum (PJF) at a local restaurant on Friday evening. Aftab Ahmed Khokhar, Consul General of Pakistan, attended the occasion as chief guest. Sohail Ali Khan, Press Consular, commercial consular Somroo, and Pakistan Trade Minister OIC Erfan Tarer and a large number of Pakistan community members attended the gathering. Gifts and prizes were given to winners of the quiz and painting competitions by Malik Qadir, Rana Jawaid, Mahmoud, Salman Mir and companies like Bin Zagar, Contraco, Al-Herbi paints, Rana Jawaid, Taiba Collections. The venue was beautifully decorated with Saudi Arabian and Pakistani flags. People felt nostalgic as national songs echoed within the hall. Khokhar congratulated the audience of Independence Day of Pakistan and said that "Muslims of the South Asian subcontinent have achieved a separate home land by the great scarifies of our forefathers. "It is a big award from the God. We have to respect democracy, justice and equality. Although our country is engulfed in many crises, but we hope we will overcome them soon by taking initiative and corrective steps of our visiting Federal Minister of planning and commission to Saudi Arabia, Ahsan Iqbal." Khokhar said that Pakistanis expatriate in the Kingdom should try to strengthen the economy of Pakistan so that it can stand strongly in front of other countries. He said that next year they will organize a larger function on this occasion. Christian community chairman Pervez Yousuf brought the National Day cake and consul general performed the cake cutting ceremony along with other prominent community leaders including engineer Aziz Ahmad, Nosherwan Khatak, Altaf Mirza, Noor Ahmad Arain, Choudhary Arshad, Masood Ahmad Poori, Choudhary Akram, Choudhary Mohammed Azam, Waheed, Inayat Jara, Qasim Naqvi, Dr. Khalil ur Rehman. They applauded the efforts of the PJF for organizing such a beautiful event. Earlier, the ceremony started with the recitation of a few verses from the Qur'an by the Pakistani Presidential award holder, Engineer Mohammad Asif and Naat was presented by veteran journalist and writer from Makkah and Taif, Amil Usmani. Amir Mohammed Khan, chairman of PJF, shed light on the aim and objects of the forum and welcomed guests, participants, sponsors and distinguished businessmen of the community without whom it wouldn't have been possible to host the event. Khan said: "We will always celebrate the Independence Day with the same sprite and solidarity." Shahid Naeem, president of PJF, thanked the attendees and appreciated all sponsors for being generous toward exploring the nationalistic feeling among the new generation by helping organize community event. Jamil Rathor, general secretary of PJF, conducted the proceedings. The function ended with the singing of the National songs "Jiway Jiway Pakistan" and "Sony Durti Allah Rakhay Qadam Qadam Aabad" with consul general and participants. Dinner was sponsored by Choudhary Mohammed Shafqat.
