LAHORE, Aug 13: President Gen Pervez Musharraf will lay the foundation stone of Baab-i-Pakistan being constructed to pay homage to the people, who had stayed at the largest refugee camp here after migration from India upon the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

The ceremony is being held at Walton on Sunday to mark the country’s Independence Day.

Besides the president, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will address the ceremony which is being attended by scores of Pakistan Movement workers from all over the country.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, all governors, chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers, MNAs, MPAs and senior civil and military officers have been invited to the function for which elaborate security arrangements have been made.

The idea to construct the project was conceived in June 1992 by the late Mr Ghulam Haider Wyne, the then chief minister of Punjab. He wanted to build a national monument at Walton’s 75-acre tract to pay homage to the people who had camped here after migrating from India at the time of creation of Pakistan.

Walton had housed the first and the largest refugee camp where the late Mr Wyne, then a young boy, had also taken refuge along with hundreds of others who had reached there after leaving their homes and hearths mainly in the East Punjab.

Punjab had given Rs95 million and Balochistan Rs2.5 million as the seed capital, which was invested in the National Savings Certificates and Special Savings Schemes. The amount is now Rs350 million, but the project is expected to be completed at a cost of over Rs1 billion.

The project could not be launched for over a decade because of the occupation of a major portion of its land by army, the Boy Scouts Association and the education department. A katchi abadi over 2.4 acres was another problem.

Meanwhile, arrangements have been made to celebrate the day for which all major public and private buildings have been decorated with national flags and colourful lights.

Various government agencies and private organizations have chalked out functions to mark the day.