The flag hoisting ceremony at Delhi Gate, Walled City Lahore was held on Tuesday by Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani and Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) Director General Kamran Lashari.
The local community of the Walled City was invited to the hoisting ceremony and the children of different schools there performed on national songs. The local community had decorated the streets and mohallahs in the spirit of celebrating the 71st anniversary of Pakistan.
Delhi Gate resident Muhammad Jahangir while talking exclusively to Daily Times said that the entire Walled City has always been excited to celebrate this special day and the street and houses are decorated with buntings and flags keeping that in mind.
“I have witnessed the turbulence and riots of the Partition and that is why I always guide the new generation to treasure their homeland and celebrate this day with full zeal and zest. I have seen the tragic scenes of killing and rape in Walled City during the Partition and I think it was the biggest tragedy we faced as we lost our dear ones. You will not see this zeal and spirit anywhere else in Lahore which you see here in androon Lahore,” he said.
WCLA Media & Marketing Deputy Director Tania Qureshi told Daily Times that the Walled City’s people celebrate this day as a festivity and they start decorating the streets and houses from August 1 and it lasts for the entire month.
“This city has seen all the tragic scenes of the Partition and people here keep narrating those stories to the younger generation in order to evoke a sense of patriotism,” Tania Qureshi said.
WCLA DG Kamran Lashari told Daily Times that the Walled City is a completely different world inside Lahore and the jubilations there are matchless as those people show the real spirit of freedom on August 14. “I have seen each and every house with a flag and all the streets decorated as if it is Eid,” Kamran Lashari said.
Akbar Hussain Durrani was of the opinion that celebrating this day with vigour and passion shows the love of the country in the hearts of the people of Pakistan.
“Pakistan is our pride and we should be proud of this country and the heritage it has,” he said.
The chief secretary Punjab took a tour of the newly restored Royal Trail inside Delhi Gate and visited Shahi Hammam and the Wazir Khan Mosque.
“I appreciate the restoration done by WCLA and I wish that all our heritage sites are preserved in the same way for the coming generations,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2018.