Speakers at Independence Day events urge nation to value their freedom

Political and religious parties on Saturday held different programmes as well as rallies across Karachi to celebrate Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day with traditional zeal and fervour.

Yaum-e-Dawa

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has already been observing Independence Month since the beginning of August. The party held an event to mark Independence Day as Yaum-e-Dawa. On the occasion, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that if Pakistan is a body, the country’s ideology is its soul.

“Millions of people migrated for the sake of this country by sacrificing their graves at home,” he said. “Despite so many sacrifices, we do not value our freedom.”

Senior party leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said Pakistan is a free nation, and it is moving forward in spite of all the difficulties and conspiracies.

“We are all Pakistanis, and we are proud to be Pakistanis. We can never forget the sacrifices made by our ancestors for the sake of Pakistan,” he said. “August 14 is the great day when our elders got Pakistan.”

Rizvi said that even today the citizens of this country have the responsibility to squash every bad thought or word that emerges or is used for Pakistan.

Green Karachi

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Karachi chapter launched the Let’s Green Karachi campaign on the occasion of Independence Day. In this regard, the PTI set up a camp on Sharea Faisal to celebrate the country’s independence, and distributed plants among people. PTI Karachi President Khurrum Sher Zaman inaugurated the tree-planting campaign.

Senior PTI leaders Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Sindh Assembly opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh, parliamentary party leader Bilal Ghaffar, MNAs Fahim Khan, Aftab Jahangir and Jai Prakash, MPAs Shehzad Qureshi and Sidrah Imran among others were also present during the launch of the campaign.

Zaman said that every year we celebrate independence with enthusiasm. “We have included the prime minister’s mission in this celebration. Trees are being planted in other provinces on the direction of the PM,” he said, adding that they have launched the Let’s Green Karachi campaign and distributed plants among people.

“We will also distribute these plants at other places, including children’s schools. We urge the citizens to plant as many trees as possible to avoid the effects of global warming. I invite the people of Karachi to take part in this campaign,” he said.

Naqvi, the former Sindh Assembly opposition leader, said that the PTI invites every citizen to stop by their camp. “We want citizens to take trees and plant them in their homes. Protect trees as people protect their children. We will make our city green soon.”

Ghaffar said that the Pakistani nation must not forget their martyrs on this day of celebration. “Green Karachi is the vision of the PM, who is taking the country on the path of development. People should also pray for the development of Pakistan and the safety of our PM as well.”

Fiza Zeeshan, Karachi president of the PTI’s women wing, said that the party will make Karachi green and prosperous. “The whole world is working on global warming. The people of Karachi also have to do their part for global warming. The campaign aims to rid Karachi of environmental pollution,” she said.

Right direction

Opposition leader Sheikh said that PM Imran Khan is steering the country towards the right direction to realise the dreams and visions of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Addressing the media in his constituency PS-99 during a tree-planting ceremony in connection with Independence Day and the PM’s Clean and Green Programme, Sheikh stressed that people should plant at least one sapling this Independence Day besides hoisting national flags and holding events.

Following the directives of PM Khan, a countrywide tree-planting drive continues, while tree-planting activities have been geared up in Sindh as well to achieve the objectives of Clean and Green Pakistan, he said.

Sheikh said that the nation is celebrating this Independence Day with renewed resolve and a sense of pride to achieve the objectives set by the founder of Pakistan.

“All the state institutions are on the same page, and they have clearly conveyed the message to the world that Pakistan is a sovereign country and its leadership is capable of taking decisions independently while keeping national interests supreme. Gone are the days when Pakistani leadership was dictated.”

An ideology

The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Sindh and Karachi chapters held separate events marking Independence Day. A large number of people attended the flag-hoisting ceremony organised by the party’s Karachi office at its Idara Noor-e-Haq headquarters.

“The spirit which we are witnessing today reminds us [of] the one which was witnessed during the Pakistan Movement,” JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rahman said.

The JI leader said that Pakistan is not the name of a region but the name of an ideology, adding that our forefathers got the country from the British by sacrificing their lives. “The British wanted to snatch our religion and our ideology from us but Quaid-e-Azam launched the Pakistan Movement and thwarted their intentions.”

A similar flag-hosting event was held at Quba Masjid, the JI Sindh office, situated in the Federal B Area, where the party’s provincial president and former MNA Muhammad Hussain Mehanti said that the map of Pakistan was very clear in the mind of Quaid-e-Azam.

“The Quaid believed that the difference between India and Pakistan was that India was based on secularism, and Pakistan was based on Islam, Quran and Sunnah.”

Ulema’s role

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Information Secretary Aslam Ghouri claimed that the mention of those who had sacrificed for the establishment of Pakistan had been removed from the textbooks.

“We have to make our new generation aware of the sacrifices of our elders and leaders,” said Ghouri while addressing an Independence Day event at Jamia Mazhar Uloom Hamdia in Baldia Town.

Others, including JUI-F District West chief and former MPA Maulana Umar Sadiq, and General Secretary Maulana Fakhruddin Razi, also spoke on the occasion, saying that Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan is in the grip of a commission mafia that is only protecting the interests of the emperors.

“Until the common man gets justice, education and health facilities, the agenda of establishing Pakistan will remain incomplete,” said Sadiq. Madrasa students presented tableaux and sang national songs at the event.

Unfulfilled promises

Allama Muhammad Ahsan Siddiqui, head of the Interfaith Commission for Peace & Harmony, congratulated the entire nation of Pakistanis in the country and around the world on the occasion of Independence Day.

“We reiterate our resolve to remain steadfast on the principles of freedom of the homeland, the dignity of the nation,” said Siddiqui while addressing an Independence Day event.

He said that during the celebrations, the Pakistani nation should also remember the sacrifices of the Pakistan Movement leaders. “Let us remind ourselves of the unfulfilled promises, especially towards equal safety and protection of all our non-Muslim citizens whom we still refer to as minorities,” he said.