• Home

Pakistanis urged to stand united

DUBAI - Nuclear capabilities make Pakistan the biggest power in the Islamic world, said Mujeebur Rehman Shami, Chief-Editor of the daily Pakistan, at a dinner reception held at Inter-Continental Hotel on Thursday by the Pakistan Association, Dubai, to celebrate Pakistan's 56th Independence Day.

Addressing the prominent members of the Pakistani community at the gathering, Mr Shami and former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who were the chief guests at the function, outlined Pakistan's independence struggle and achievements over the years.

Mr Shami spoke of the struggle waged by the Muslims of the subcontinent to achieve independence in 1947. He said that during a recent visit to Pakistan, Indian MPs commented that Pakistanis were much concerned about the rights of Kashmiris while they ignored the Muslims of India.

"In 1947, Indian Muslims were given the choice, but the Kashmiri Muslims were not given any choice," said Mr Shami. He also said that Pakistan had achieved the goals of its creation. "The partition was the result of conflicting views and ideas and not because of religion, language, colour or creed," he said.

"The general view at the time was that Pakistan's economy would not be viable, but this has been proved otherwise in a relatively short time," said Mr Shami. He said that Pakistan has also achieved its third goal: setting up of a democracy.

"Pakistan is trying to establish democracy with an Islamic base. The Islamic system has a strong base in Pakistan which presents a shining example to others," he said.

Mr Shami stressed that Pakistanis at present need to show unity on many fronts. "Immediately after Pakistan was created, the army, bureaucracy, the masses and the judiciary were united, but now they are separate entities. "The main issue is a sense of ownership and belonging," he added.

"It is now time to learn from the past and move ahead progressively," said Mr Shami.

Mr Sajjad Ali Shah said that Pakistan was achieved on the 27th of the month of Ramadan and so Independence Day should be celebrated accordingly.

He further said that the actual independence struggle started in 1857 which was called by the British as the mutiny.

Mr Shah also shed light on the personality of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, and said that he personified honesty and truthfulness. He said that the Quaid was a great leader for the Muslims. He pointed out that the constitution of Pakistan has been changed three times i.e in 1956, 1962 and 1973.

"If the 1973 constitution is changed one more time, the existence of Pakistan will be endangered," he said. He said that Muslims needed to unite and fight the present crisis as they were being snubbed by the world.

"If the EU can unite, then why not the Muslims?" he questioned. Mr Shah also said that the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) needs to play a stronger role.

• UAE