KARACHI: Holding the Queen’s Baton for next year’s Commonwealth Games at the Mausoleum of the Quaid-i-Azam on Tuesday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah thanked the organisers for bringing it to Karachi for the first time.

“I would like to congratulate the people of this province, especially the citizens of Karachi, and we’re honoured to have this Baton amongst us,” Murad said after he was handed over the Baton by Pakistan Olympic Association president retired Lt Gen Arif Hasan, who is the chief of the Commonwealth Games Association of Pakistan thanks to his role in the POA.

“With the Baton travelling through the city during its relay, I expect our athletes, sports fans and general public to show themselves as a disciplined society so that the soft image of Pakistan is projected to our fellow members of the Commonwealth as well as the whole world.”

The Baton arrived in Pakistan from Seychelles during its worldwide relay before the Games in Birmingham and was handed over to CGA Pakistan by the British Deputy High Commission on Monday. Its first stop on Tuesday was the Sindh Marassatul Islam University before it was unveiled at Quaid’s Mausoleum.

The chief minister said that sports and education were a means to elevate educational and health standards, while they also help promote development and peace.

“The sports and education are part and parcel and connect people of various cultures,” he said. “That’s the reason why the United Nations recognises sports as an enabler for sustainable development.

“As a tradition, the Baton of Commonwealth Games carries a good will message from the Queen and the people of United Kingdom and we thank them all for their best wishes for international peace and cooperation.

“I truly believe that the sports, the arts and physical activities have the power to change perceptions, prejudices and behaviours, as well as to inspire people, break down racial and political barriers, combat discrimination and defuse conflicts.

Murad added that sports was beyond any kind of politics and that was why it must be widely utilized for educating the youth and inculcate in them the highest ethical standards.

Earlier, students of the Sindh Madressatul Islam University got their chance to carry the Baton with former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Mohammad also present on the occasion.

“It’s an honour for us that the relay in the Pakistan leg started from here,” the University’s vice-chancellor Prof. Dr. Mujeebuddin Sahrai Memon said.

On Wednesday, the Baton travels to the Karachi Grammar School before making its final appearance in Pakistan at the Kakri Ground in Lyari. Maldives is the next stop for the Baton.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2021