All set for Independence Day today

LAHORE: The nation will celebrate 73rd Independence Day today (Wednesday) with traditional national spirit and zeal to acknowledge the happiness of independence, the greatest blessing in this world.

This year, this day is dedicated to the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri Muslims they have been waging for over seven decades against a huge 700,000 Indian occupant army which had been committing gross violations of human rights, including murder, torture, abduction, extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, arson and destroying of crops and shops to crush the freedom struggle.

The need to highlight and remind the world about illegal Indian occupation of Muslim majority state of Jammu and Kashmir was more than usually urgent this time because Indian extremist and racist Hindu government of BJP had scrapped the constitutional semi-autonomous and disputed status of Kashmir state by revoking the Article 370 of Indian constitution, declaring it an integral part of Indian union and then bifurcation of Kashmir into two regions, Kashmir and Ladakh. People especially the youth and children are expressing usual zeal and enthusiasm for celebrating the Independence Day as they wear clothes depicting the colours of national flag, put up flags and buntings of national flags all over the houses, buildings and across the streets and markets to give the cities and towns a festive look. All important buildings and intersections are illuminated and decorated with national flags. All over the city there are stalls and makeshift shops selling badges, bugles, bangles, caps and stickers of national flags and portraits of national leaders and heroes.

Azadi Buses: Lahore Transport Company (LTC) has made special arrangements for plying two “Azadi Buses” to celebrate Independence Day.

According to a spokesperson of LTC, these buses would ply on two different urban routes B-10 (Valencia to Railway Station) and B-22 (Jallo More to Jinnah Terminal Thokar Niaz Baig). The buses have been decorated with pictures of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Minar-e-Pakistan, Mausoleum of Quaid, and Faisal Mosque for paying tributes to the founders of this nation who made tremendous efforts to make a separate homeland for the Muslims of sub-continent.

LTC Chief Executive Officer Mariam Khawar said the purpose of plying the decorated buses was to show solidarity and allegiance with ‘our homeland that reminds us about our responsibility as patriotic citizens’.