My dear fellow citizens,It is a matter of great pleasure and honour for me to be addressing you on the occasion of 79th National Day. It was on this historic day that Muslims of the sub-continent under unparal-leled leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah adopted the famous Pakistan Resolution at Lahore on 23rd March 1940, giving a clarion call for a separate state as envisioned by the Poet of East- Allama Iqbal. This momentous event in the history of In-dia was well captured by late Stanley Wolpert, the famous autobiographer of the Quaid, who wrote in ‘Jinnah of Pakistan’ that “few individuals sig-nificantly alter the course of history; fewer still modify the map of the world; hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state-Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.”My dear countrymen we proudly reminisce the historic creation of our belov-ed country to inspire ourselves and our future generations to courageously face the current challenges and to intelligently turn these challenges into op-portunities. We live today in an ever-changing global village shrinking fur-ther with revolutionary changes witnessed in the social media which makes it incumbent on all of us to verify the facts and confirm information from differ-ent sources before letting it become a part of our opinion which most impor-tantly may affect our national ethos. Pakistan is a peace loving, democratic, progressive, and liberal Islamic country in which the minorities’ rights are fully respected and protected and women stand shoulder to shoulder with men in all walks of life. Pakistan’s foreign policy is based on developing harmonious relations in the region and internationally and to resolve all disputes peacefully. The recent events of last month have shown to the entire world that Pakistan would ex-ercise restraint even when defending against any military attack but would resolutely defend its sovereignty. Pakistan under the astute and dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, the country is moving forward to be a leading welfare state among the comity of nations. Towards this end, the government has put in place several policies, which will usher in a new era of development, prosperity and stability not only in Pakistan but would have a salutary impact on the prosperity, stability and security of the region. We all must assist the Prime Minister in this noble objective as admonished by the Quaid in these golden words that “Come forward as servants of Islam, organize the people economically, socially, educationally and politically and I am sure that you will be a power that will be accepted by everybody.”I wish you all a very happy and blessed National Day. May Allah bless our country with happiness and remove all afflictions from our beloved home-land. Ameen.

23rd March marks the historic day when the Mus-lims of sub-continent decided to unite in their dem-ocratic demand for a separate homeland, where they could establish and practice their lives in ac-cordance with their values and traditions especial-ly justice, equality, and freedom. Today, therefore, is an occasion to pay tribute to the struggle and sacrifices of our founding fathers and pledge once more to live up to the ideals that form the founda-tion of the idea of Pakistan.

Pakistan has surmounted unprecedented chal-lenges and demonstrated resilience in the face of extra-ordinary circumstances. It has accomplished exemplary successes in fight against terrorism and extremism. However, there still remains the chal-lenge of socio-economic development. We need to work even more for national progress and pros-perity.

We are committed to democracy, justice, and peace. Given our human talent and natural re-sources, our potential is immense. We are destined to achieve the status of a model democratic state, as envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Let us have faith and remain united and let us commit to work hard with discipline to make Paki-stan strong and prosperous. May Allah’s blessings be with us all.

Pakistan-Paindabad. Pakistan Zindabad Pakistan Zindabad

Messages on the Occasion of National Day of Pakistan 23 March 2019

Zahid Nasrullah Khan Dr. Arif Alvi

Special Supplement

Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

rd

23 March 2019rd

Imran KhanPrime Minister of the Islamic

Republic of Pakistan

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of the Nation

Allama Muhammad Iqbal,Poet of the East

23rd March is a historic day in our national history when the Muslims of Sub-Continent determined their des-tiny in line with the vision of Allama Mohammad Iqbal. That very day, the Muslims of Sub-Continent, under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Mo-hammad Ali Jinnah, resolved to carve out an independent Muslim state for themselves thus breaking the shack-les of slavery and putting an end to tyranny of the Hindu majority. The struggle of the Muslim culminated in creation of an independent Muslim state on 14th August 1947. The creation of Pakistan enabled the Muslims secure their rights, religious free-dom and socio-economic opportunities which were being denied to them by the Hindu majority who also threatened their cultural identity. The Resolution passed on 23rdMarch was aimed at creation of a state where the citizens could enjoy equal opportunities irrespective of caste and creed and where they could play their due role in the progress of the country. The Pakistan of today is a New Pakistan. We are endeavoring to make the country a true Islamic Welfare State. We are committed to establishing a society which is based on compassion and justice and where every person can contrib-ute towards socio-economic development to the best of his ability. We desire friendly and peaceful relations with all our neighbors, based on the principle of equality. We want countries of the region to join hands for eliminat-ing poverty and help their people achieve socio-economic prosperity. We want to make it clear that our desire for peace should not be treated as a weakness. Pakistan reserves the right to take every step for its defence. By the grace of Al-lah Almighty our defence is impregnable. We are proud of our gallant armed forces. The courage of our armed forces, the capability of our national security institutions and their countless sacrifices have foiled nefarious designs of the enemies of Pakistan. The entire world witnessed it during the recent Indian ag-gression and we emerged from the situation even stronger than before. Today, we should not forget our Kashmiri brethren who have long been victim of Indian state terrorism and are forced to lead a life of misery. While express-ing our solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren on this occasion we salute their courage and acknowledge their sacrifices. We reaffirm our resolve to continue our political, diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmir cause at every in-ternational forum. Today we are at a critical phase of our history where we are waging a strug-gle to rid our country of corruption and malpractices. We are also striving for economic stability. Though we are faced with a difficult situation, but I reassure you:

اگر ہے جذبہ تعمیر زندہ

تو پھر کس چیز کی ہم میں کمی ہے!