The Pakistani Embassy in the US celebrated the 60th anniversary of the countrys Independence from British colonial rule by hoisting the national flag at the embassy, but apparently no Pakistani was invited for the celebrations.
Washington, Aug 15 : The Pakistani Embassy in the US celebrated the 60th anniversary of the country's Independence from British colonial rule by hoisting the national flag at the embassy, but apparently no Pakistani was invited for the celebrations.
Pakistan Embassy officials were present at the ceremony, but there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm at the event.
Syeda Quratulain Masood, a Pakistani student, said: "It is a common practice of the embassies here that on their national days they send an open invitation to the communities to meet for their national day. I was waiting for the August 14 to go to the embassy and see my green and white flag being hoisted. I got a rude awakening the other day."
"There was no information about the national day function at the embassy. So I called up the embassy and was eventually told that while there was a function, the community was not invited. I was told to come to a painting exhibition instead," Masood added.
He said that being a Pakistani, "I not only have to go through a "random" check at the airport every time I travel, but also feel unwelcome in my own embassy. A national day celebration consolidates our identity of being Pakistanis."
Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani, however, said that for many years Independence Day is not celebrated by Pakistani embassies under orders of the government, as the honour is reserved for Pakistan Day, which falls on March 23.
Durrani said the government has decreed that August 14 would be limited to simple flag-hoisting event at all diplomatic missions.
He recalled that when he served in Washington as a military attach‚ in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this practice and protocol was followed.
ANI