Country’s progress so far
Pakistan Day is observed to commemorate the Lahore Resolution of 1940 and the day when the country’s first constitution was passed and Pakistan declared a Republic. Jinnah who presided over the meeting that passed the Lahore Resolution later underlined his vision of Pakistan in his address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947. Pakistan was to be a pluralist society where religion was to be a personal matter, having nothing to do with the affairs of the state. Jinnah also believed that all organs of the state would be under the elected government and would strictly adhere to the constitution.
The people of Pakistan subsequently had to struggle hard to get rid of military rules, the latest under Pervez Musharraf from 1999 to 2008. An elected government has completed its full tenure for the first time while a second one is soldiering on to complete it. What bolsters the system is an independent judiciary, a free media and an opposition which has vowed not to allow anyone to overthrow the system.
Positive developments include the end of the seven-month long standoff between the government and PTI. The PTI would hopefully rejoin the NA now. The terrorist tide which threatened not only democracy but the very existence of the state has been stemmed by the armed forces. Thanks the SC, the Local Governments which sustain democracy would be in place by September this year. Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan have significantly improved. After a period of relations with India marked by extreme bitterness, there are now signs of improvement of ties with the eastern neighbour.
The PML-N government and the army have successfully navigated the tense periods in their relations. With the army playing the lead role in the war against the terrorists, it sometime seems to be occupying the turf of the elected government. One expects it to be a temporary affair. As Nawaz Sharif put it, while speaking in Sialkot, progress has always been made in democratic times while under dictatorships, the country was pushed backward.
