A portrait of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was installed at the National Liberal club, one of the most prestigious private clubs in London on Thursday.

Jinnah was a member of the club along with Dadabhai Naoroji in 1913. The club bestowed this honor on him to commemorate his membership after 109 years.

The portrait painted by artist Kaya Mar was installed as part of Pakistani’s 75th independence anniversary celebrations. Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK Moazzam Ahmad Khan inaugurated the portrait in presence of artists, writers and club members.

Jinnah, along with Naoroji became the first South Asian leaders to have their portraits installed in the hallway of this prestigious club.

Speaking at the event, Bilal Sheikh, the Principal of Mont Rose College said that, “I commissioned this portrait after learning that Mr Kaya Mar knows Jinnah well as a great statesman and a believer in an equal society. Mr Kaya has captured the essence of the man as a liberal and progressive leader who created a homeland for millions of people in the subcontinent without any differential treatment.”

Sheikh added that the portrait depicts Jinnah as a politician, lawmaker, and charismatic leader who believed in equality and diversity and altered history.

Founded in 1882, the National Liberal Club describes itself as a bastion for broadly Liberal values, with an ethnically and socially diverse membership since its launch in the 1880s, it was one of the first London’s major ‘gentlemen’s clubs’ to admit women.