ISLAMABAD – Pakistanis are celebrating 75th Independence Day with renewed zeal and fervor but unlike the past, the ongoing Covid pandemic has put a slight damper on the celebrations.
Every year, Pakistanis commemorate August 14 when the country was declared an independent state after a long indigenous struggle against the British colonial rule for a separate Muslim state in the subcontinent.
The day dawned with thirty-one gun salutes in the Federal Capital and twenty-one gun salutes in the provincial headquarters.
Jashn-e-Azadi Mubarek .
The long-held tradition of 31-gun salute at the Federal and 21-gun salute at the Provincial Capitals continues.
Pakistan Zindabad-Paindabad pic.twitter.com/DlLqZtei5B— Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri (@Zhchaudhri) August 14, 2021
The change of guard ceremonies held at Mazaar-i-Quaid and Mazaar-i-Iqbal in Punjab and Sindh provincial capitals respectively while a flag-hoisting ceremony was held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in the federal capital.
President Dr. Arif Alvi, who was the chief guest at the event, felicitated the Pakistanis on a special day.
LIVE #APPNews : President Dr. Arif Alvi at Independence day flag-hoisting ceremony Aiwan-e-Sadr #Islamabad @ArifAlvi @PresOfPakistan #14august2021#PakistanZindabad https://t.co/S0q6OqSPej
— APP (@appcsocialmedia) August 14, 2021
Speaking at the ceremony, Alvi said, “today we realize the difficulties that were faced in the course of Pakistan’s freedom, and paid tribute to the leaders of the freedom movement, including Allama Iqbal, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and Liaquat Ali Khan. It is due to their sacrifices that we are here today”.
Recalling the past events, he said three wars were forced upon us over the past 74 years. There is an ongoing race for weapons in the region and Pakistan has been [deliberately] trapped, he mentioned adding that despite this challenge, Pakistan, which was essentially an agricultural country, managed to meet its food requirements and was now on the way to becoming an industrial country.
Dr. Alvi further said that Pakistan had been fighting terrorism after the situation worsened in Afghanistan. We sacrificed around 100,000 lives and lost around $150 billion, but came out of that war victorious.
Iron Brother China congratulates Pakistan on Independence Day
President commended Pakistan’s armed forces and police for bravely fighting terrorism.
Meanwhile, government and private buildings, as well as streets and markets, have been bloomed to mark Independence Day. National flags, posters, and banners adorn rooftops.
