KARACHI - Political leaders from various parties on Wednesday visited the mausoleum of the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to pay homage to the founder of the country on his 144th birthday.Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited the mausoleum, laid wreaths and prayed for the soul of the great leader. Speaking to the media later, Shah said the first and the foremost principle of the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was unity and today the unity was the need of the hour to deal with internal and external challenges. “Unity is badly needed to resolve internal
and external issues. On our eastern
border, India is playing Holi with the blood of its Muslim population and has introduced a controversial citizenship
bill to deprive its Muslim residents of their homeland,” he said. On the other hand, he said, Indian atrocities in held Kashmir are on the rise.The chief minister said that internally Pakistan is facing the challenges like weak economy, poverty, political unrest and disunity. “We all have to forge unity to face all the challenges and emerge as a sovereign
nation,” he said. He said the provincial
assembly of Sindh has passed a resolution against the Indian atrocities in held Kashmir and the controversial Indian citizenship bill and requested the federal government to raise the issue
at the international level to expose India.Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar laid a wreath on the grave of founder of the country and registered his views in the visitors’ book. Deputy Mayor Syed Arshad Hasan, Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rehman,
parliamentary leader in the city council Aslam Shah Afridi, DMC Central
Chairman Rehan Hashmi, DMC West Chairman Izhar Ahmed Khan, members of the MQM-P Coordination
Committee and other elected local
bodies representatives were also present on this occasion.Talking to the media, Mayor Wasim Akhtar said, “We have gathered here today
on the birth anniversary of a great leader of the subcontinent. However, this is not enough to lay flowers on his grave. We need to do what he said and adopt his vision at the federal and provincial
level while formulating our policies,”