The day dawned with special prayers for the progress and prosperity of the country and with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital as well as 21-gun salutes in provincial capitals.
The national flag was hoisted at important public and private buildings across the country and all Pakistani missions abroad.
However, the permanent feature of armed forces’ parade on Pakistan Day was not held owing to security reasons.
Governmental, political, cultural, social and other organizations have chalked out various programs to mark the day in a befitting manner.
A change of guards took place at mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, where Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali, Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat Ul-Ebad Khan along with other dignitaries visited the mausoleum and lay floral wreaths, besides paying homage to the Father of the Nation.
A change-of-guards ceremony was also held at and Allama Iqbal’s Mausoleum inLahore. A contingent of Pakistan Air Force took charge under the supervision of Air Commodore Sohail Ahmad, who laid a wreath at the Mausoleum and offered prayers.
Representatives of all three armed forces and a large number of citizens were also present at the mausoleum.
The day is observed as a public holiday in all federal and provincial government offices, banks and private sectors.
Pakistan Day was also celebrated with traditional zeal in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Day President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, in their messages on the occasion, said Pakistan Day is an occasion for expressing the resolve that no dictator will be permitted to usurp the fundamental rights of people or trample on democratic aspirations.
It is worth mentioning that March 23 is celebrated every year to commemorate the adoption of Pakistan Resolution by the All India Muslim League in 1940 atLahore’sMintoPark, nowIqbalPark. The resolution demanded a separate homeland for Muslims in the subcontinent.
The Lahore Resolution proved to be a successful culmination of the long struggle by the Muslims of the subcontinent for their emancipation from British colonial rule.
It took about seven years after the Pakistan Resolution to give final shape to the new state ofPakistan, which has been described by the historians as a unique and unparalleled event in the history of the contemporary world.
Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2012