Pakistan achieved independence on the blessed ‘Laila tul Qadar’ but the purpose behind its creation is yet to be materialised, former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan said on Tuesday.
He expressed these views at a ceremony to mark the Independence Day at Aiwan-e-Iqbal. He said that today’s citizens looked up to western nations for their progress but had adopted only the bad things from them which included “short clothes, music, guitar and fashion,” and had given them some of their values such as honesty.
“It is for this very reason that angels are now helping them (the west) instead of us,” Khan added. He further said that the current issue was how to improve the state of affairs at home.
The country faces a set of problems including poverty and illiteracy, to which solutions are needed, he said, adding, “The entire nation seems to be in a hurry. Go and look from a high building in Lakshami Chowk and you will see everyone in a rush; all are moving at high speeds but none has any end in sight. I have been lying to the world during my service about the good things of Pakistan.”
Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami said it would have been ideal for the President to have taken his oath today (the day of country’s independence), adding that no one understood why many politicians went for pilgrimage to holy places on this nationally symbolic day. “There are a lot of people performing Haj and Umrah but very little is being spent on education, while the trend of paying taxes is almost negligible,” he said.
Furthermore, he said that the “Frankenstein of terrorism” had been out of control since many a year, adding, “When the present regime took over, the people had a lot of hopes from them, but there have been so many attacks since they took over. Now is the time to do something on an urgent basis to rescue the country from this whirlpool.”
Commenting on the democratic provisions in the constitution he said the Pakistani constitution was more democratic in contrast to various other democratic constitutions.
Renowned TV anchor Sohail Warraich said that Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal wanted to make Pakistan a laboratory where democracy and Islam could go hand in hand, however the country had ended up being a mere security state.
He lamented the recent attacks on the DI Khan prison saying that “Prisons are places where criminals and those challenging the writ of the state are kept and attacks on such places are not a good omen for the country.”
Additionally, he said the Pakistani people had given a lot of sacrifices not just for achieving independence but otherwise as well, and that now, on the occasion of Eid, there should be some greetings and happiness for them too.
Columnist Sajjad Mir said there was a lot of debate surrounding the exact date of the country’s independence with many people stating August 15 while others sticking to the night between the 14th and 15th.
However, he said that everyone agreed on the date of 27 Ramazan, and hence it was a good day to celebrate the country’s independence. He said Pakistan was a laboratory for the entire Muslim world to follow but no one bothered to carry this mission forward after Quaid-e-Azam’s death.
