In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Connect, the Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Sohail Ashraf, shared Islamabad’s celebration plans for the 79th Independence Day of Pakistan.
He said that this time, the 14th August event coincided with a very important event. “As you know, we have a trilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey,” he said, pointing towards the Makkah Defence Pact.
“This time, we started preparations before August 14. As you might have seen, we did a major fireworks display in the New Blue area,” he said.
“We decorated Islamabad, and it was basically resonating with lights, with light shows and with fireworks,” Ashraf said.
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What special Independence Day events will take place in Islamabad?
“So, if you have a specific question, we are doing different events in different places,” he stated further.
According to him, there will be a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Monument of Pakistan, which takes place each year. The biggest event, according to him, will be the parade at D-Chowk.
“The biggest event that we are talking about, you might remember that we have childhood memories that there used to be a parade in D-Chowk,” he added.
“But this time around, we will do a different kind of parade, a kind of celebration parade, in which we will be able to see different mascots for children and families. We have added a whole fleet, Islamabad Police will be there,” the CDA chairman said.
“We will see a horse dance. And there will be performances by two of our major artists,” he said.
“So, this is going to be a major public event, and we are thinking that at least 10,000-12,000 people from the public will come, and we are preparing for that. And D-Chowk will once again be the highlight of it,” he added further.