Independence Day or Birth Day

We have been celebrating 14th of August as the Independence Day for the past seven decades or so, which I think in the real essence is not very proper.  There was no Pakistan before 14 August 1947 on which date it was created by partitioning the sub continent of India. It took its birth and came into being on this date as a free country. Agreed, India was ruled by the British and was liberated, but was Pakistan ever ruled by any foreign power?  If not, where do the liberation and independence come for it from?  We should, therefore, celebrate its Birth Day and not its Independence Day.

There is a subtle and hidden psychological aspect also in commemorating the Birth Day instead of the Independence Day.  Independence means freedom from the yokes of some foreign power.  But Pakistan was never ruled by anyone and Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was its first head of the state. We were born free from the day one and should think and act like an ever free proud Pakistani nation.    Hence, we should celebrate the Birthday of Pakistan and not its Independence Day.

Incidentally, the Quaid addressing the nation on 15 August 1948 (and not 14^th of August, which a separate debate) used the words “Pakistan’s first Birth Day” and not the Independence Day.

Col. Syed Riaz Jafri (Retd)