Exclusive Report to Sada-e-Watan by Dr Farah Adeeb (Perth, Western Australia)
Pakistan Independence Day was celebrated with traditional zeal in Perth Western Australia. It was a day to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the historical creation of Pakistan.
The Pakistani community in Perth gathered to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day in an impressive and well-participated ceremony at Melville City Town Hall on 9th August 2009. The ceremony started with the name of Almighty Allah by the recitation from the Holy Quran along with Urdu and English translation by Umar Ali followed by national anthems of Pakistan and Australia. The President of the Pakistan Association of Western Australia (PAWA) Dr Zarrin Siddiqui, delivered a welcoming speech in English. Mr Nazar Ahmed Khan and Mr Ayaz Qaiser performed the role of stage secretary. Asghar Jamil recited Naat in his melodious voice.
Present on this occasion were notable members of the executive council of PAWA (Syed Nizamuddin Ahmed, Mohammad Zaki, Dr Farah Adeeb, Nazar Ahmed Khan, Ayaz Qaiser, Sumair Sajjad and Dr Zarrin Siddiqui) and a large number of Pakistanis from the Community including women and children. A number of Pakistani students from Curtin University, University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University also participated in the function with zeal and zest.
A special guest was invited from the local Melville City Council to attend the function in the form of the Deputy Mayor Patricia Phelan. She commented on how Australia embraces people from many cultures and events such as this one.
Such celebrations help raise the public profile of the ethnic diversity within Australian society, and also provide an opportunity for differing ethnic groups to celebrate their proud culture in their new homeland with others. In her local electorate alone consisting of 99,351 residents, 31.9% are born overseas and 17.8% come from non- English speaking backgrounds.
On this occasion, Mr Sumair Sajjad along with other colleagues (Sameera, Samra, Saad, Tariq, Arif) sang a few national songs and very popular melodies of Urdu and Punjabi. The ceremony was sponsored by Shaukat Khan Faiz Khan and Shakeel Khan. The lucky draw ended up with many participants taking small prizes home. An important aspect of the ceremony was a well-organised and well-received Quiz Program on Pakistan and it was conducted by Mr Nazar Ahmed Khan and Mr Ayaz Qaiser.
The ceremony ended with a very lavish dinner including mixed vegetable and chicken gravy, fried rice and desserts like Jalebi. Cold drinks and hot tea were also offered.
