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Pakistani Independence Day celebrated by the Pakistani Community in Limerick

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Pakistani Independence Day – Celebrations consisted of a small gathering on Mallow Street, where the community recited their national anthem together.

Pakistani Independence Day celebrated by the Pakistani Community in Limerick 

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Ann Mc Donald

pakistani independence day

Maria Khan giving a short speech, which was followed by a sing-along to patriotic songs.


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The Pakistani Community in Limerick celebrated Pakistani Independence Day on Saturday, August 14.

The celebrations consisted of a small gathering on Mallow Street, where they recited their national anthem together. A short speech was said, followed by a sing-along to patriotic songs.

Maria Khan of Pakistani Community Limerick said, “We wanted to provide our children with an opportunity to be happy as we couldn’t do anything last year to celebrate because of Covid-19 restrictions.” 

After the gathering, a car rally took place, with cars displaying the Pakistani and Irish flags. Several cars attended the rally, which Maria said made the children very excited.

To celebrate this day, Maria said, “It is typical for Pakistani people to celebrate by attending parades and gatherings dressed in white and green, the colours of Pakistan’s flag.”

Pakistan’s Independence Day is celebrated every year on August 14, to mark the day the nation became an independent state and broke free from British-Indian rule in 1947. The India-Pakistan subcontinent was under British rule for 98 years, from 1849 to 1947.

Quid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first Governor-General of Pakistan, and many other members of his team, after a great deal of effort and sacrifice, made great efforts to make the dream of having a separate Muslim state come true. Jinnah also aided the Muslim migrants who had emigrated from India to Pakistan after the two states’ independence and supervised the establishment of refugee camps.

Maria said, “There is a huge number of Pakistani families based in Limerick, many of them are working for the HSE and other essential services, and are unable to meet their extended family back in Pakistan because of the Covid situation. We all are highly satisfied living in Ireland as the Irish nation is kind and welcoming. Generally, our Irish friends, colleagues, and neighbours join us on our festive gatherings, and always enjoy our traditional Pakistani feasts.

After spending 15 years here, we feel that Ireland is our home, and we always strive to engage in national events.”

For more information on the Pakistani community in Ireland go HERE 

For more stories on culture, go HERE 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.