LAHORE: The provincial government might have forget to celebrate the 140^th birthday of the father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, as no official ceremony was organised by the Punjab government on Sunday.

However, several ceremonies, rallies and walks were organised by private organisations to pay homage and tribute to Jinnah.

Meanwhile, a number of ceremonies were organised by the Punjab government and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) in connection with Christmas and birthday of Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif. However, ceremonies to pay tribute to Jinnah were relatively ignored.

The day dawned with a 21-gun salute to pay tribute to Jinnah for his tireless efforts and struggles for Pakistan. Similarly, the TV and radio channels aired special programmes featuring the life of Jinnah. Newspapers also printed special editions on the life of the great leader.

A peace bike rally was organised by the Peace Welfare Foundation from the Wahdat House Punjab to the mausoleum of Allama Iqbal. The participants of the rally were holding Pakistani flags and pictures of Quaid-i-Azam.

The Nazaria Pakistan Trust also organised a seminar at Aiwan-e-Quaid-I-Azam in which former Pakistan president Rafiq Tarrar, Justice (r) Khalilur Rahman, Punjab Minister for Food Bilal Yaseen and workers of Nazria Pakistan Trust were also present. A cake cutting ceremony was also organised at the seminar.

Addressing the participants, the minister said that the best way to pay tribute to founder of Pakistan is to implement on his principles. “Today is the birthday of our national hero, we being a nation should vow that we will work for the progress and development of our beloved country without any political differences. We should create an atmosphere of love, harmony and unionism among ourselves. We should follow golden principles of faith, unity and discipline, which can help bring Pakistan in the list of developed nations of the world,” he said.

He continued: “Our forefathers under the visionary leadership of Quaid-i-Azam left no stone unturned to fulfil the dream of Allama Iqbal. It is our responsibility to solve the challenges that our country is facing today,” he added.