Ghulam Mustafa Baladi
14 August is the day to be celebrated by every patriotic Pakistani as “Independence Day”. It is the day when people of Pakistan got independence from the British empire under the leadership of a very visionary leader, a man of honour, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is the day to remember the sacrifices of the heroes of Pakistan. Quaid e Azam in his first speech after independence announced, “ You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other
place or worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has to do with the business of the state”. From these lines, we can identify that Quaid’s vision for Pakistan was never to build a sectarian state, but a state where people belonging to any religion or sect are free to live according to their religion. However, today this no longer remains the case. We have become a people of intolerance who no longer accept others and their values freely. In order to align our country with Jinnah’s original vision, we must be accepting and tolerant. Moreover, we require efficient and honest leaders which hopefully our educated youth will grow up to be.
