LAHORE: The Hindu community in Pakistan has decorated the main hall of the National Assembly with a forty feet high and sixty feet wide national flag on Tuesday — a day when the parliament held its joint session to discuss the situation in Kashmir.
The unique flag was presented by Pakistan Hindu council headed by Ramesh Kumar Wankwani who is also a member of the National Assembly.
“The flag has been gifted by Pakistan Hindu Council and has been made by using white and green balloons. As many as 60,000 deflated balloons have been used to develop the flag,” ministry of information and broadcast tweeted.
“It is the first time in the history of any country that such a huge flag has been prepared and displayed in any legislature. It is the biggest of its kind in the world and all set to register a record in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Guinness team will present certificate on Friday,” Wankwani told Arab News.
Asad Qaisar, speaker of the National Assembly, termed it a good sign of minority community’s love for the country.
Wankwani said that the Hindu community living in Pakistan assisted the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and opted to live in this country. “Political figures like Jogarnath Mandal and SP Singh were companions of Jinnah in his struggle,” he said.
“This flag is a gift and a testimony of love of the Hindu community for Pakistan,” Wankwani said.
Pakistan Hindu council gifts world’s biggest flag to National Assembly, makes world record
Pakistan Hindu council gifts world’s biggest flag to National Assembly, makes world record
- The flag was displayed in the main hall during a joint session of the Parliament on Tuesday
- It is a gesture of Hindu community’s love for Pakistan, says Hindu lawmaker
India captain says will travel for Pakistan clash despite boycott
- Pakistan have announced they will boycott their match against India on Feb. 15 in Sri Lanka
- India need to be at the stadium on Feb. 15 to ensure they are awarded two points for match
MUMBAI: India captain Suryakumar Yadav said Thursday that his team would show up in Colombo for their T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan, despite their Group A opponents and arch-rivals boycotting the match.
“We haven’t said no to playing them (Pakistan),” Yadav told reporters at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, where India will begin their campaign against the United States on Saturday’s opening day.
“They are the ones who have said no. Our flights are booked and we are going to Colombo.”
India need to be at the stadium and ready to take the field for the February 15 match in order to make sure of being awarded the two points for a match forfeit.
The tournament, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India, has been overshadowed by weeks of political posturing in the build-up.
Bangladesh were kicked out for refusing to play in India and Pakistan’s government then told its team not to show up at the clash of the arch-rivals as a show of support for Bangladesh.
Pakistan and India have not played bilateral cricket for more than a decade, and meet only in global or regional tournaments events.
India start the T20 World Cup on home soil with a great chance of retaining the title they won two years ago and Yadav agreed they were the side to beat.
“The way we have been playing, it looks like we are the favorites,” he smiled.
If that seemed like an overconfident statement, the India captain was quick to caution: “There are 19 (other) good teams in the tournament, though.
“On a given day, when you play, you have to bring your A-game and play good cricket.”
India know that their opening opponents, the United States, caused the biggest upset of the 2024 tournament when they beat Pakistan in a super over.
Yadav said no team would be taken lightly.
“I’m sure every game will be very important,” he said.
