ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi Friday said the nation should reaffirm its commitment to building a state that respected the diversity of its people and provided equal opportunities to its citizens irrespective of their religion, caste, creed or colour.
In his message on the 144th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he asked the nation to follow in his footsteps for success.
He also urged the nation to remember the brethren of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on this occasion, who were being subjected to the worst kind of state terrorism for over seven decades".
Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said there was no other pleasure more real to the nation than the commemoration of birthday of Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“As a prime representative of whole nation, I owe immense gratitude, love and devotion towards my beloved leader Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” Imran said in his message on the birthday of the Quaid.
He said, “On this eventful day when Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born, a proud nation was destined to come into being. I feel blessed to have opened my eyes in a free environment bestowed upon us by God through his chosen personality who was none other but our beloved Quaid.
He had a vision for the Muslims of the subcontinent which got translated in the shape of Pakistan. Therefore, there is no other pleasure more real to us as a nation than the commemoration of his birthday. As a prime representative of whole nation, I owe immense gratitude, love and devotion towards my beloved leader Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah”.
The prime minister noted, “In the modern history of mankind, there are a few people who garnered such a wide popularity as our Quaid did. His determination to carve a nation out of chaos and relentless deprivation was miraculous and insuperable against all odds and challenges.
He had a firm faith in God and His Prophet (PBUH), which guided him through a long journey comprising ordeals, deceptions and dejections but culminating in grandeur, décor and eternity.
He is a role model not merely for us, but also for Muslims of whole world because of the universal vision he instilled in the creation of Pakistan. With the adorable actions which spoke louder than words, he became an actual prototype of honesty and righteousness”.
“We trace not a single discourse by our beloved Quaid on the innumerable sacrifices he made for the cause of his nascent nation rather it is only through his actions that we learn of all those grieving losses he personally went through. Today, I urge all of you to pay a befitting homage to our great Quaid by following in his footsteps in all walks of our lives. Let us live the Quaid's ideals of Unity, Faith and Discipline with a renewed national spirit so that we make this country rise above all seen and unseen challenges. Together, let us beseech Allah that He grants us strength to realize our destiny of becoming the strongest nation on earth as rightly visualized by our Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” he concluded.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz also paid tribute to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on his birth anniversary. “On December 25, we pay tribute to our sincere and great leader, who materialised the dreams of the people of sub-continent by defeating imperialism of that time with prudence, determination and steadfastness,” he tweeted.
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Dr Muhammad Iqbal were ideal leaders of Pakistani nation, he said in a series of tweets. “We want to develop a new Pakistan in line with the vision of Jinnah,” he said.
"By the grace of Allah Almighty, the new Pakistan will be true portrayal of Quaid's dream", the minister said. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday said Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s motto of ‘Faith, Unity and Discipline’ would always remain the guiding principle of our great nation.
He paid tribute to Quaid-e-Azam by quoting his famous quote: “No power on earth can undo Pakistan,” Director General Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) mentioned the COAS’ message on Quaid’s Day in a tweet.
The army chief said the nation was celebrating Quaid’s anniversary with great reverence and commitment upholding his message of hope, courage and confidence.