LAHORE - Provincial Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan has said that the Guinness World Record (GWR) has confirmed the Punjab Youth Festival 2014 world records events which is not less than a slap on the face of critics.
Speaking at the press briefing here at the National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday, Mashhood said: “In the 67-year history of the country, our sports were in deteriorating state and our grounds were deserted but with the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif, sports were revived here and Punjab Youth Festival 2012 was organised across the province which gave a new ray of hope to our players and games.”
“We had signed an MoU with the GWR in 2012 and 2013 and for the PYF 2014, we also signed an MoU with the GWR. Now the GWR has been working on ratifying all the records attempted during the PYF. During the PYF record breaking activity, 33 records were attempted and among them the largest human flag was registered while other 32 were on waiting list for approval,” he added.
“The festival was declared the largest event with the participation of 3.2 million individuals. On the other hand, the Punjab Youth Festival 2014 recorded the participation of 4.8 million masses. A great number of feats were achieved in the record breaking activity which earned good name for the country across the globe. But there are always a few elements who try to destroy the good work done by sincere people and can’t see the country progressing and portraying its good image to the world,” the Minister lamented.
He elaborated: “A section of media not only tried to defame the country but also attempted to mislead the nation by terming the genuine PYF Guinness World Record activity fake and fraud, but by the grace of God, we managed to prove our truth and sincerity as whatever we have conveyed to our nation, the GWR management also confirmed the same.”
He also displayed the official statement of the GWR to the media present on the occasion.
Clarifying his stance regarding the question raised on the status of the PYF and records made during the GWR event, he said: “The Guinness World Record management has cleared our position through an email which is an open secret and also can be found on the GWR website http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records.” Mashhood disclosed that the Sports Board Punjab (SBP) had decided to take action against the local TV which tried to sabotage the positive image of the PYF and the country through their negative and anti-nation agenda.
“We have also informed the PEMRA about this anti-country activity of the local TV channel and I hope they will also take action against them.”