Dressed in green and white, and wearing big smiles, members of Brandon’s Pakistani community gathered at city hall Thursday morning to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day.

It was on Aug. 14, 1947, that Pakistan gained independence from the United Kingdom.

For the first time this year, the Pakistan flag was raised to fly beside the Canadian and the Wheat City flags while people sang the patriotic song “Dil Dil Pakistan.”

Celebrations continued inside with traditional music and food including samosas and jalebi, which is a deep-fried snack soaked in sugar syrup.

There are about 200 members of the Pakistan community in Brandon, Muhammad Azeem Siddiqui told the Sun, and about half of them joined in Thursday’s celebrations.

Amjad Malik, who has lived in Brandon for the last 27 years, spoke

See Full Page