Independence Day. (2009-9)

Independence Day:- The first brick in the foundation of Pakistan was laid in 712 A.D. when Mohammad Bin Qasim anchored at Debal Port (now know as Karaqchi), freed the Muslim women and children from the prisons of Raja Dahir and constructed the first mosque in the town. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan, acclaimed the event by stating “the Pakistan Movement started when the first Muslim put his foot on the soil of Sindh – the Gateway of Islam in India”
The Pakistan Movement was synonymous with the very spirit of Islam. The War of Independence in 1857 was an open manifestation of the Muslim Spirit of revolt against the domination of British Government and its stooges in India. Frustration and lack of direction, however, pervaded the rank of Muslims after the unfortunate failure in the War. At this critical juncture emerged Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who served as a beacon of light for the Muslim Nation in distress and disarray. He equated education with power and declared that Muslims could improve their political, social and economic condition only through the medium of modern and scientific education. He cultivated the concept of a separate Muslim Nation on the basis of religion, culture and history. “He inspired the Muslims of the Sub-Continent to demand a separate homeland” where they could arrange their lives and affairs of the state according to the dictates of the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
After the partition of Bengal in 1905, the opposition of the Indian National Congress and its leadership compelled the Muslims to establish a political party to protest their rights. Thus in 1906, the Muslim league was founded as a challenge to the Indian National Congress. Maulana Hasrat Mohani presented a plan to the Government for the country envisaging two separate states for the Hindus and Muslims.
Chaudhary Rehmat Ali further developed this concept and coined the word “Pakistan”. He displayed great wisdom and foresight by putting forth not only a name but in large measure the scheme that culminated in the creation of Pakistan. Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Shakat Ali and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan spread the message of Movement through their lucid lectures and articles in newspapers.
Allam Iqbal iniated his efforts in the second decade of twentieth century to awaken the Muslims of India from the state of slumber which had dangerously retarded their moral and material progress leaving them far behind in the race of opportunities. He determined to extract the Muslim community from the backwardness by infusing a burning zeal among the depressed and dejected Muslims, lost in the wilderness.
Allam Iqbal, being conscious of the implications of the political development, propagated his ideas about a separate state for the Muslims in his Presidential Address delivered on 29th of December 1930 at Allahabad. Presiding over the 31st session of the All India Muslim League he said:”The principle of European democracy cannot be applied to India without recognizing the fact of communal groups. The Muslim demand for the creation of Muslim India within India is, therefore, perfectly justified.
After a great and heroic struggle by Muslims of the sub-continent, under the dynamic leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah the British Parliament was forced to approve the Indian Independence Act, 1947 leading to the birth of Pakistan on 14th August, 1947. On this historic day, the Quaid-e-Azam while addressing the first session of Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in Karachi eulogized the services and sacrifices of the Muslims of the sub-continent to achieve Pakistan in the following words:-
“My thoughts are with the valiant fighters n our cause who readily sacrificed all they had, including their lives, to make Pakistan possible”.
Thus the response of the millions, sacrificing their lives and homes, to the call of “Unity, Faith and Discipline” from their Quaid-e-Azam firmly placed Pakistan on the world map.
The Governor General of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in his address at the University grounds on Thursday 30th October, 1947, the biggest public meeting in the political history of Lahore said,
“We have achieved our cherished goal of freedom and have established Pakistan as an independent sovereign state, fifth largest in the world. The freedom can never be attained by nation with out suffering and sacrifice, has been amply borne out by the recent tragic happenings in unparalleled difficulties and untold sufferings, we have been through dark days of apprehension and anguish: but I can say with confidence that with courage and self-reliance and by the grace of God we shall emerge triumphant”.To commemorate the Independence day. Pakistan Post is issuing a Commemorative Postage Stamp Rs.5/- denomination on August 14, 2009.