Happy 62nd Independence Day
Ye Watan Tumhara Hai sang by the great Ustad Mehdi Hasan shown above is the song of Pakistan and its words are my words this independence day.
That said I cannot refrain from expressing my happiness saying AZAADI MUBARAK to all Pakistanis inside and outside of Pakistan as we celebrate our 62nd year of independence with a bang. On August 14 I am am always full of hope but this August 14, I am beaming with hope for so much has been achieved in just one year.
I suspect that readers will be surprised at my positive words, given the recent harsh introspection of recent posts and indeed some of you may be worried that I may even be under the influence of intoxicants this independence day!
My view is that as a nation and as a people Pakistan has achieved much progress in one year and I offer a short list of most notable achievements that we as a nation should be happy about. The following list of milestones have all occured in the one year from August 2008 to August 2009 and the list says it all:
- A sitting President faced impeachment for the first time in our chequred history. Indeed Musharraf resigned from the Presidency and was forced out!
- A peaceful long march proved that the Pakistani masses can come out on the streets to stand for their rights and proved that Pakistan has active citizens who will stand as the first line of defence for our nation.
- The long march led by the principled lawyers movement achieved its pinnacle and achieved its aim namely the restoration of the judiciary.
- The Chief Justice of Pakistan and his brother judges were restored and the martial law on Nov 3rd was confined to the dustbin of history along with Musharraf.
- Militancy was tackled in Pakistan and about time and the Swat operation has been a success with the Taliban defeated in the main.
- Satan’s son Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with many others of the senior leadership of the vile Taliban and has given Pakistan hope that we can defeat the vile Taliban once we decide to confront them.
The above list of milestones are not exhaustive and I do not hide the fact that Pakistan is still facing many complex problems daily. Indeed I will repeat what I said last year on this very topic when I wrote that:
the political and social state of the nation is precarious to say the very least however on this day I will not dampen the spirits for I echo the sentiments of the QUAID who said that Muslims never crumble when confronted with problems. We live in a new Pakistan, full of hope and vigour, democracy is seeing a new dawn and dictatorship is dying its death.
As an addendum to last year’s wish, I am pleased to report that dictatorship has died its death with martial law over and the real Supreme Court restored since that statement was made last year.
This independence day let us smile and rejoice even more and reaffirm our love for the nation and for our forefathers who toiled and sacrificed for this land of the pure. The people of Swat and our IDP’s have led the way and demonstrated that this soil is a fertile land for men and women of sacrifice. Indeed have the IDP’s not shown the same passion for the nation as our great forefathers and so let us as Pakistanis pledge to show the same this 14 August.
As my friend Adil Najam of ATP has written wrote recently, azaadi is not a destination but a journey. We must continue that journey and in doing so we must begin by paying tribute to all our forefathers and at the same time retain hope for a better tomorrow in this new Pakistan.
The IDP’s and their sacrifice, the lawyers movement and the judges restoration and the Taliban in turmoil prove that the nation is turning the corner, INSHALLAH Pakistan will prosper. Pakistan must become the Pakistan as envisioned by Allama Iqbal and the Quaid-e-Azam, for nothing less will do.
Pakistan Zindabad
