Saturday, June 4 2005 16:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Karachi: In his attempts to shed the Hindu hardliner image, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) President L K Advani today (Jun 4, 2005) paid homage at the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, becoming the senior most Indian politician ever to do so since the sub-continent's partition.

Advani, who sought to disassociate himself from the Sangh Parivar's pet 'Akhand Bharat' (indivisible India) theory two days back by declaring the emergence of India and Pakistan as an "unalterable reality of history", placed a wreath at Jinnah's 'mazar' to the sounding of bugles by Pakistani navy personnel and stood in silence as a cleric offered Al-Fateha (prayers).

"There are many people who leave an inerasable stamp on history. But there are a few who actually create history. Quaid-E-Azam Mohd Ali Jinnah was one such rare individual", the Leader of the Opposition wrote in the visitors book at the mausoleum, which he visited with his family amid unprecedented security.

In a similar gesture, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had paid homage at Lahore's 'Minar-E-Pakistan' following his historic bus journey in February 1999. However, some Islamic fundamentalist group had washed the monument after his visit to register their protest.