Sindh Boy Scouts Association Empowering Youth
Sindh Boy Scouts Association 
Before the partition of the Indian subcontinent, 154 Boy Scouts from united India attended the 6th International Scout Jamboree in Moisson, France, in August 9 to August 18, 1947. The leader of this group was Mr. G. T. Thedious, the Secretary-General of the All India Boy Scouts Association. The group included scouts of various religions and communities.
While the scouts were in France, the announcement of the creation of Pakistan and the partition of India was made. At that time, the scouts were still representing India under the British Union Jack flag.
On August 11, 1947, at the Jamboree grounds in France, the scouts decided to celebrate the independence of their respective countries on August 14 and 15. The Indian scouts had brought their flag from Delhi, but the Pakistani scouts did not have a flag as its design was not known to them yet.
Back in Karachi, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, presided over by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, approved the design of the Pakistani flag on August 11, 1947. The details of the flag were published in national and international newspapers.
On August 12, 1947, the provincial leaders of the All India Boy Scouts held a meeting at the Jamboree grounds and decided to lower the British flag and celebrate independence by raising their own flags on August 14 and 15.
Scout leaders Mr. Qureshi M. Iqbal and Mr. Syed Inayat Ali Gardazi were appointed as the leader and deputy leader of the Pakistani scouts. They were given the responsibility to provide the Pakistani flag.
Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Gardazi searched for the design of the Pakistani flag. Finally, on the evening of August 13, 1947, an Algerian Muslim scout visited the Pakistani scouts’ camp and brought a newspaper, “Intercontinental Daily News,” dated August 13, 1947, which contained the announcement of the partition and the designs of the flags of both countries.
The Pakistani scouts were grateful for this unexpected help and thanked the Algerian scout. They immediately began making the Pakistani flag based on the newspaper’s design.
In a show of scout brotherhood, a Hindu scout from Shimla offered green cloth from his turban, and Khurshid Abbas Gardazi from Multan offered his shirt for the white part of the flag. They worked late into the night until 11 PM. Two French girl scouts, Miss Alph and Miss J. Delicot, also helped by bringing a sewing machine to make the flag and refused to accept any payment.
As planned, the leader of the Indian scouts, Mr. Thedious, called Mr. Qureshi, Mr. D. M. Mathur, and Scout Sarfaraz Rafiqui for a goodwill meeting on the morning of August 14, 1947. It was decided that Mr. D. M. Mathur would raise the Pakistani flag, Mr. Qureshi would raise the Indian flag, and Sarfaraz Rafiqui, a Pakistani Boy Scout, would raise the Scout flag.
Sarfaraz Rafiqui later became a squadron leader in the Pakistan Air Force and was martyred as a hero during the 1965 Pakistan-India war.
On August 14, 1947, amidst the flags of other nations, these three individuals raised their respective flags on separate poles at the sound of a cannon. The air was filled with chants of “Pakistan Zindabad” and “Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad,” with Muslim scouts from other countries joining in. The Pakistani scouts were overwhelmed with emotion, with tears of joy in their eyes.
After the ceremony, the scouts offered thanksgiving prayers and invited scout leaders from other countries for tea, including the two girl guides who had helped prepare the Pakistani flag. The Pakistani leader specially thanked them in front of everyone.
