Pictures by Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Doha: Citizens and expatriates yesterday celebrated Qatar National Day (QND) with full fervour with their families and friends avoiding large gatherings following COVID-19 preventive and precautionary measures.
The day started for many with watching live QND parade on Qatar TV at their homes. The National Day parade was held at Doha Corniche to celebrate QND, demonstrating the achievements of Qatar in different walks of life.
First time health workers ‘White Army’ consisting of doctors, nurses, Qatar Red Crescent Society employees and volunteers took part in the parade, which was in recognition of their roles in fight against coronavirus.
People who watched the parade on Qatar TV described the participation of ‘White Army’ one of the most amazing moments.
“It was a heartfelt moment to see health workers and those who supported Qatar in fighting COVID-19 walking together during parade,” Abu Ahmad, an expatriate working as a civil engineer in Qatar for years told The Peninsula.
Abu Ahmad lauded Qatar and its wise leadership for adopting a unique way to thank the frontline health workers who risked their lives to protect people from the pandemic.
Lauding the presentation of QND parade, another individual Mohamad Khalid said that forming words related to QND, FIFA World Cup 2022 and health messages with human assembling was amazing.
“One of the most impressive moment for us was forming the word like Allah, Al Watan and Al Amir and 2022 with human assembling,” said Khalid, adding that he used to go to Doha Corniche with his family to celebrate QND but this year because of coronaivurs they marked the day at home.
People also moved to shops to buy national flags, scarfs, t-shirts, stickers and other items related to QND for themselves and their families and friends. Car accessory shops also attracted pretty good number of people seeking decorations of their cars with national flag and stickers.
At evening, motorists carrying their families and friends were spotted taking rounds of Cultural Village Katara and Doha Corniche. Children in cars were waving national flag enjoying the moment.
Picture by Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula
People also enjoyed firework displayed at the Doha Corniche at evening.
Social media sites were abuzz with QND greetings and footage of celebration. ‘Nahmadak Ya Dhal Arsh’, ‘Al Yamul Watni Al Qatari’ and ‘Qatar Balad Al Iz’ were registered among the most trending hashtags on the Twitter launched by citizens to mark QND.
The commentators lauded the decision of QND Organizing Committee to include health workers in the parade. “Standing up for the doctors, first responders, and paramedics was a precious moment of the parade this year.
Humility, respect and always graceful,” said a commentator on a QND hashtag.
