ISLAMABAD, March 23: Unlike previous years Pakistan Day was celebrated on Saturday with sobriety and simplicity but with the resolve to make the country stronger and prosperous.

Pakistan’s national flag flew on top of all important public and private buildings.

The joint services parade was not held as as a large number of forces are deployed on the eastern border to protect the country against any aggression.

In Karachi, the Sindh governor Mohammedmian Soomro and his cabinet visited the mausoleum of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and laid a wreath and offered fateha.

Representatives of the three services also visited the mazar.

In Lahore, an impressive guard-mounting ceremony was held at the Mazar of Allama Muhammad Iqbal. A contingent of the Pakistan Air Force took charge of guard duties at the mazar.

Provincial minister Hamid Saeed Akhtar visited the mazar on behalf of the Punjab governor.

Seminars, symposiums, processions and functions were held in different cities and towns to highlight the sacrifices rendered by Muslims of the subcontinent for the creation of a separate homeland.—APP