TWO SOUTHAMPTON events took place to celebrate the 71st Pakistan Independence Day.

The events were held at the Everest restaurant and The Nuffield Theatre in Southampton on September 25 and 26.

Pakistan Welfare Association Southampton (PWAS) organised the event held at the Everest Restaurant.

The day was filled with music, a raffle and MP Alan Whitehead handed out life time achievement awards to families from the area including the families of the Late Khurshid Drabu and the family of the Late Ch M. Aslam.

Councillor Derek Burke, Zia Khan and Tony Ford were also presented with certificates for serving the community.

Organisers of the event described it as a ‘lively and enjoyable event.’

Ali Beg, who organised the celebration at the Nuffield told the Daily Echo that Pakistan Independence day will now become an annual event that will be celebrated at the gallery every year.

He said that this years celebration was a ‘great success’ with more than 140 tickets sold.

The event began with a short film screening that explored the life of Jinnah, who was the founder of Pakistan.

Guests were then welcomed to view an exhibition that displayed a number of posters and pictures that illustrated what the Pakistani community have done since coming to the city.

The event then closed with a three hour performance of Sufi music, locally known as quawwali .

Ali said: “The aim of this event was to unite the Pakistani community with the city and we managed to do that.

“We had a great turn out and therefore, in our eyes it was a great success, and I would like to thank everyone that came along.”

Ali told the Daily Echo that Pakistan Independence day will now become an annual event for the city which will be celebrated at The Nuffield.

He went on to say that he hopes it will be even more popular and successful in the future.

He said: “We can’t thank The Nuffield enough for supporting us with this event.”