LAHORE: In a week that has seen a number of records being broken, the another Guinness World Record was broken on Saturday of the most number of people waving flags.
The record was established at the opening of the Punjab Youth Festival at the jam-packed National Hockey Stadium on Saturday as a total of 56,263 enthusiasts participated in the event. The record had previously been held by Argentina where 49,850 participants waved their national flag.
Pakistani youth have established 29 world records during the ongoing Punjab Youth Festival. More than 60,000 students of different educational institutions took part in these record breaking activities.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif graced the occasion as chief guest, while diplomats of around 14 countries, several members of National and Provincial Assemblies, Provincial Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Sports Secretary Muhammad Khan Khichi, Sports Board Punjab (SBP) Director General Usman Anwar and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
“This is a big success for Pakistanis and I congratulate everyone for this great achievement,” Provincial Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan said.
Mashhood also presented this year’s first Guinness World Record certificate to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. This certificate was awarded to Pakistani youth for breaking the record of the largest human flag. Pakistan snatched this record from Bangladesh who achieved this feat with the participation of 27,117 individuals.
“The credit goes to the management for arranging this mega event with great discipline, and the participants defying heavy rain,” said Sports Board Punjab (SBP) Director General Usman Anwar.
Indian contingent
A 81-member Indian contingent, comprising 66 athletes and 15 officials, led by Bophinder Singh arrived here Saturday for the Pakistan-India Punjab Games being held under the auspices of the Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) 2014.
Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Madiha Rana along with officials of Sports Board Punjab (SBP) received the guests at Wahga Border.
Speaking at the occasion, Bophinder Singh thanked the people of Punjab for their warm welcome and confessed that Punjab people were really great hosts.
“We will try out best to win maximum events of Punjab Games and if we do not win, we will win the hearts of the Pakistani people,” he said.
He stressed on holding more events like this between the two neighbouring countries. “Sports create peace, harmony and good relations among countries. We are hopeful that the successful holding of Pakistan-India Punjab Games will bring the people of both the countries closer and help in strengthening our relations.”
The two-day Punjab Games, which are one of the major events of the Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) 2014, will begin March 3.
An exhibition has been organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Several public and private educational institutions are participating in this exhibition. Thousands of students from 47 universities will participate in this event.
Talking to media, Mashhood said that the Punjab government will continue to highlight the talents of the youth in various fields through the Punjab Youth Festival (PYF).