Independence at all costs

Many people who themselves witnessed and participated in struggle for independence under the leadership of law-abiding and peace-loving Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah are alive in Rawalpindi-Islamabad.

They pray for the country's survival with dignity and honour, exhorting youths to get united and prepare for turning their homeland into a progressive welfare state as was envisioned by hundreds of thousands who sacrificed their lives.

What was the ideal for which our elders had struggled after March 23, 1940? Has that ideal been achieved? What kind of state the Quaid had in mind for an overall improvement in standards of living. Why socio-economic justice is still foremost in our minds? Is there further need for unity, discipline and integrity of character? Such are the questions city youths discuss.

The young boys and girls are looking for Pakistan which the Quaid and his followers had dreamed. And that was exploitation-free, well-defended, independent and sovereign state with a truly democratic government.

The task looks gigantic but that's not beyond accomplishment provided we get united with iron determination to translate the dream of social progress and economic prosperity. For that, as true Muslims, we'll have to zealously guard and preserve our unity. Also, we'll have to think of ourselves as Pakistanis first, and feel, behave and act in the national interest.

Necessity is the mother of invention and law demands we must do something without loss of time to save the country and make it a welfare state where people do not die of hunger and poverty and disease. And that is possible only when we stop seeking monetary help from others, and work for self-reliance.

The Quaid-i-Azam had rightly pointed out that Nature has given us everything, we've got unlimited resources and manpower; we must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on the true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice.

Full of enthusiasm on the 69th Independence Day, citizens appear thinking about the future economic progress of their homeland. They say the moment has arrived to distinguish between friends and foes, and defend and save the country by strengthening the foundation of brotherhood. The unity is essential for achieving the ideal of Pakistan.

"There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan," are Mohammad Ali Jinnah's words echoing in city streets. "Independence at all costs," say young men and women who love Pakistan.

zasarwar@hotmail.com