ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza has greeted the nation on the auspicious occasion of March 23; known as Pakistan Day and said this year the day has special significance for the country.
In her message, the Speaker National Assembly said sixty-nine years ago, on this day, Muslims of the South Asia, under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Lahore on March 23, 1940 resolved to work for an independent Muslim state.
The Lahore Resolution, which later on came to be known as Pakistan Resolution, imparted new vigor and impetus to the movement for independence and gave the Muslims a new sense of purpose and direction.
For centuries, non-Muslims lived peacefully and enjoyed complete religious freedom under Muslim rulers.
However, the government which came into power under the Government of India Act 1935, gave a rude shock to the Muslims forcing them to conclude that their rights would not be protected within a united India and they were thus left with no choice except to demand independence not only from the yoke of colonialism but also from Hindu domination.
Quaid-e-Azam embodied Islamic principles of tolerance and humanism which enabled him to rally around, not only Muslim public opinion of all shades but also support from other minorities, to demand and create a separate Muslim homeland.
“It is a tribute to his leadership and honesty of purpose that within a short period of seven years he secured Pakistan against heavy odds and through peaceful means,” said the Speaker.
The present democratic government can take genuine pride for restoring the Quaid’s vision of Pakistan as a democratic, tolerant and peace loving nation, she added.
http://geo.tv/3-23-2009/37991.htm
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