South Asian Pulse

Pakistan anthem makes a world record From: Muhammad Abd al-Hameed

Guinness World Records has officially recognized a world record for most people singing a national anthem simultaneously. And the honor goes to Pakistan National Anthem with nearly 6,000 Pakistanis succeeding in setting the record in 2011.

5,857 boys, girls, women, men and youth gathered on the occasion of the Independence Day in Karachi, to send a message of hope, confidence and nationalism to their compatriots across the nation.

Pakistani television stations broadcast the event live from the grounds of Defense Stadium in the DHA suburb of Karachi on midnight of 13 and 14 August 2011. In the video, boys and girls can be seen counting down as clocks turn 12 and then everyone starts singing the
national anthem.

There is another twist to this story. If you replace 5 in the figure 5,857 with 1, you would get 1857 which marks the year of the last rebellion against British occupation to restore the throne of the Muslim Mughal Empire. Pakistan emerged exactly ninety years to that date.

The event in Karachi was organized by several citizen groups, led by I Own Pakistan.

The record attempt didn't go quite as smoothly as planned however. As the deadline approached, the crowd was still short of several hundred people and it took a flood of texts, tweets and Facebook messages at the last minute to attract extra singers.

The Express Tribune reported that the final figure was enough to break the previous record of 5,248, set in 2009 by the Philippines, with participants are said to have celebrated into the night.