Sydney: The 60th Independence Day of Pakistan was celebrated here with great fervour and enthusiasm. To celebrate this auspicious day a colourful ceremony was held at Castle Grand, Castle Hill on Saturday under the aegis of Pakistan Association of Australia (PAA). People from all walks of life and all age groups wearing colourful dresses attended the ceremony and actively participated in the Independence Day celebrations.
The ceremony among others was attended by His Excellency Jalil Abbas Jilani High Commissioner Pakistan, Mohammad Azam Consul General of Pakistan, Honourable Alan Cadman MP for Mitchel represented Prime Minister of Australia, Honourable Dr Ashraf Ch Member Parliament New Zealand, Nigel Gould Federal Candidate for Mitche, Michael Visilli Federal Candidate for Greenway, Assistant Commissioner NSW Police Nick Keldas, Honourable Waheed Asghar Dogar Member for Punjab Assembly Pakistan, Honourable Mian Javed Member Punjab Assembly Pakistan, Rai Hassan Nawaz Nazam Sahiwal, Rana Zahid Mehmood Nazam Faisalabad.

In his address President PAA Ejaz Khan welcomed the honourable guests and congratulated the Australian Pakistani community for the 60th Independence Day of their beloved homeland. In his speech Ejaz Khan touched upon a range of issues including Pakistani community’s constructive role in the Australian society, their contributions towards the development of Pakistan and community’s concerns with regard to Australia’s Uranium deal with India. The President PAA said, “Pakistani community has always been in making tremendous contributions for the prosperity and development of Australia.”
“We consider Australia as our own homeland and are providing selfless services for the greater good of society,” Ejaz said, these efforts must be recognised by the concerned quarters. Ejaz said that the local Pakistani community were not only supporting the local economy but they were also serving their brethren at home. “The community stood by their brethren in Pakistan during the hour of need.” Ejaz said, adding, “Pakistani community sent lot of donations to the earthquake and flood victims through PAA in recent years.”
The President PAA also congratulated all those who played their role in merging two associations into one particularly Dr Akram Hassan, Ch Shoaib Haneef, Bobby Malik, Sufi Javed, Rana Ehsan, Ch Nazim and Mohammad Azam Consul General Pakistan. Ejaz said, “Now we would be able to present our point of view from a single platform and it would help our cause.”
Ejaz said that all successful nations audit their performance at and determine policies for the future. They also identify their weakness, and move forward with courage to find cure. He said that as a community we have a few weaknesses which usually are very common among other communities as well which are backbiting and lies.
In order to highlight these weaknesses PAA printed and supplied T Shirts to the guests free of costs with the following slogan. Ejaz said that we wish to be the leader of other communities in eradicating such ill habits:

You are the ambassador of your community, Avoid Backbiting and Lies

Ejaz also expressed reservations with regard to the Australian willingness to supply Uranium to India for use in nuclear facilities. “Supply of Uranium to India would start a new phase of nuclear weapons race in the region,” Ejaz said, “It would be very difficult if not possible to police that the uranium supplied to India is only used for energy generated purposes.” The President PAA said, “India is not signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) thus there are no legal and ethical grounds to supply uranium to India.” At the end of his speech he thanked PAA executives for their extra ordinary effort to put this function together.
The Assistant Commissioner while addressing the ceremony appreciated Pakistani community’s role in making Australia a secure and safe place to live.
The Pakistani High Commissioner Mr. Syed Jalil Abbas Jilani in his speech informed the audience of the progress Pakistan had made in various fields and made very important and long awaited announcement that the Pakistani Counsel Office Sydney will recommence visa and passport processing in few months.
Ch Latif General Secretary PAA was the MC during the formal part of the programme. He handed over his roll to Umar Ghani Cultural Secretary PAA for the informal part of the programme. The gathering was also entertained by the enthralling performances by musical group ‘Jazba’, Bhangras and traditional dances. They sung many Pakistan milli and traditional songs. A scrumptious dinner comprising traditional Pakistani dishes was catered and served by the Himalaya Restaurant Five Dock to the guests. The programme finished after midnight.

       

         

       

     

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