Shahbaz Sharif
LAHORE: Felicitating the nation on 66th Independence Day, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said Pakistan came into being after the struggle of Muslims of the sub-continent.
In his message on Independence Day, the chief minister said, “Despite passage of 66 years, the objectives of the creation of Pakistan have still not been achieved and the country is plunged in crises and problems.”
“The rich have every facility and privilege, the poor are deprived of even basic amenities. Pakistan cannot be made an Islamic welfare state in the real sense unless social injustices are removed. The government is making strenuous efforts for controlling terrorism, extremism, loadshedding, unemployment and other problems and all issues will be overcome with the cooperation of the masses,” the CM vowed.
Shahbaz said the Punjab government was trying to give a practical shape to the real concept of Pakistan through public-welfare projects. He said the August 14 is also a day of self-accountability and to find the answer to the question why Pakistan is lagging behind other countries and why backwardness, poverty and lawlessness have become destiny of the nation.
Tahirul Qadri
LAHORE: In his message to the nation on Independence Day, Pakistan Awami Tehreek Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has said that the ideological nations do not live merely for their defence but for the worldwide promotion of its thought and ideology. He said that celebrating independence was a way of the living nation, adding that the day was a determination to foster an attitude of self-accountability at individual and collective levels besides celebrating it in the befitting manner.
Qadri said we needed to make a pledge to become a nation, adding that we would have to initiate struggle against corrupt, exploitative and elitist political system, which had kept the nation deprived.
“Had institutions been made stronger instead of personalities, the country would not have suffered political and economic setbacks as it had over the decades,” he added. He said our borders were facing dangers today because we as a nation had not done justice to our duties.
Qadri said Pakistan was facing the worst leadership deficit which owes itself to presence of corrupt electoral system. He said if every citizen made a vow to wage peaceful struggle aimed at bringing down exploitative and oppressive system that stands erected on duress, rigging and corrupt practices, we can celebrate the next Independence Day as economically and politically independent and prosperous nation.
Shaukatullah
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah has said that despite many difficulties, our successes are quite visible in many fields since independence.
"However, a complete success demands to be more conscious towards maintenance of unity, cohesion and fraternity in our ranks as a nation at every level," he said this in a message on the eve of Independence Day.
The governor observed, "let us re-affirm our unflinching commitment that no effort will be spared for ensuring security, stability and integrity of the country. He said, "14th of August, 1947 is a joyous and glorious day for Muslims of the sub-continent." He said sixty six years down the line it has been a struggle with challenges to fulfil the promise our founding Quaid and his dedicated team held dear to their heart and strived for. Successes have also been the hallmark, whether in science, education, sports or other fields but those have been less than what we aimed for. "We have become an atomic power but democracy is yet to flourish truly in our country," he added. He said on this auspicious occasion of the 67th Independence Day, indeed, we may claim to have achieved a lot on many counts and at the same time, there is also the need to realise that a lot has to be done in coming upto expectations of our forefathers in this respect.
Munawar Hasan
LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Syed Munawar Hasan has congratulated the nation on the Independence Day and expressed the hope that the masses would continue their struggle for the achievement of the real goals for establishment of this Muslim homeland.
In his message on Independence Day, he said a complete national unity and harmony was required to meet the challenges facing the nation and the country. He said while the enemies of Islam and Pakistan, especially India and US were hatching conspiracies against the independence and sovereignty of this country. While India is violating our territorial boundaries, the rulers in Islamabad were crazy to befriend India instead of putting up a strong defence for the country, he said.
The JI Ameer said only those nations could safeguard their independence and sovereignty that differentiated betweens their friends and foes.
He said the drone attacks were trampling upon the sovereignty of the country and after twelve years of destruction, the government had now admitted that the so-called war on terror was not our war, it was a war against this country.
Munawar said Pakistan was incomplete sans Kashmir’s independence. He said India was grabbing Pakistan’s share of water by building dams on the rivers allocated to this country. However, there had been no reaction from Islamabad.
Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis Elahi
LAHORE: Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudhary Moonis Elahi in their message on Independence Day said that existence of all of us is linked with the existence of Pakistan and the current circumstances demand reviving the spirit of 1947.
They said, “In order to transform Pakistan into an Islamic welfare State we would have to embrace setting aside all differences and biases, and adhering to the golden principles of Unity, Faith and Discipline of the Founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.”
They said, “The prevailing circumstances in the country urge that the entire nation should struggle for solidarity, progress and prosperity of Pakistan.”
They said, “The role of Pakistan Army and security institutions is quite appreciable for defending the national frontiers and dealing with the internal threats and each Pakistani has great respect and regards for their sacrifices.”