On 14th August 2022, Pakistan is celebrating its 75th Independence day. 75 years ago, Pakistan became independent from British Rule. Many people gave their lives for this independence. Today, we are celebrating the diamond Jubliee of Pakistan’s Independence. We should respect this moment. Now let’s analyze where is Pakistan standing today after its 75 years of independence. Here in this article, I am going to share with you a picture of Pakistan after 75 years of independence. I will start this topic with some historical facts first.
A large part of the world was occupied by a few colonial powers for centuries. During his rule, the people of most of the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America went through a very painful period of slavery. What were the atrocities on the slave nations that were not tolerated?
Occupied countries were brutally exploited and their raw materials and natural resources were brutally looted and impoverished. Dozens of books have been written on the subject of colonial plunder and exploitation, detailing the extent to which the colonial powers exploited the valuable resources of the slave states. Today, the happiness seen in some countries of the West, especially in Europe, has a large part of the wealth looted from the occupied countries.
The subjugated nations fought a long war of national liberation to remove the shackles of colonial slavery, in which millions of people sacrificed their precious lives so that their future generations would not remain slaves and live a dignified life in a free and independent countries.
There was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire, as it had colonies on every continent of the world. India, which was called the golden bird, was also under British occupation. Like other slave countries of the world, there was a freedom movement in India in which every section of the population actively participated. The Second World War had destroyed many European countries economically, and Britain was also included in these countries. There was a time during the World War when the salaries of its military officers were paid by the United States.
This situation forced Britain to leave India in a hurry. Due to this haste, some problems also arose which later became the cause of wars and many of these issues and disputes are still unresolved.
Pakistan After 75 Years of its Independence
75 years ago today, on this day, we got freedom. India also got freedom, both of us were freed from the womb of a night. We actually got this freedom from the British Empire. There were some things that were left incomplete in the partition, one of them being Kashmir.
In 1947, India gained independence and with it, as a result of partition, a new country “Pakistan” appeared on the world map. Today is the 14th of August and we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our independence in Pakistan. In common colloquial terms, it can be said that it is the Golden Jubilee of Independence. This day comes every year and is followed by traditional activities.
Then the freedom that we got, another freedom came out of this freedom, in the eyes of the people of East Pakistan, while in our eyes we were divided. For Gandhi, this night was to be the night of India. For Maulana Azad, this country was the product of the seeds of hatred sown by Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel, not by Jinnah. They did not accept it and thus, there was a long time of vandalism, the government was not stable, years passed and we could not give a constitution.
Till 1971 we used to celebrate our independence from Pakistan which was created in 1947. Today we celebrate Independence Day in this Pakistan which half a century ago was reduced to half.
Governor Ghulam Muhammad took over and sat down, the Prime Minister hardly stayed for a year. Bengalis have already thrown the same party out of their soil in the state elections, which created Pakistan. The biography of “Mir Ghos Bakhsh Bizenjo” compiled by “BM Kutty” is a must-read. How weak political institutions first strengthened the civil bureaucracy and then how power shifted from the civil bureaucracy to the military bureaucracy.
Till 1971 we used to celebrate our independence from Pakistan which was created in 1947. Today we celebrate Independence Day in this Pakistan which half a century ago was reduced to half.
Already there was the aristocratic class which was nurtured by British imperialism for its purposes, this type of class was also in East Pakistan but there was also an urban and agricultural middle class, whose first leader was Shaheed Suhrawardy or Sher Bengal. Then the third leader was Sheikh Mujib. He actually became a slave of the nobles of West Pakistan and the black British who occupied the power of West Pakistan did not find Sardars, Vaderes in East Pakistan.
They took freedom from here. At that time, our civil-military and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto were very happy from within. Come on, the majority lost their lives. Our Karachi High Court lawyer Aziz Shaikh writes in his biography that there was a young lawyer practicing in the Karachi High Court who became Pakistan’s ambassador to Thailand when President Ayub went on a visit to Bangkok. He was close to the ambassador and asked him how to get rid of the Bengalis.
While celebrating the 75th anniversary of independence, we must surely express our immense joy because there is no greater blessing than freedom. But on happy occasions, just as we remember those elders and friends who are not with us, today we should not forget the tragedy that if it had not happened in 1971, we would be today not only in South Asia but also in the continent of Asia. had a huge economic and political power.
Today we must look back at the Pakistan of 75 years ago and tell our youth how great the country we got in 1947 was and how we lost it because of our mistakes. It is also necessary to consider that we got a country rich in natural and human resources but how did we take advantage of it? Along with us, but after us, the countries that gained independence, who did not have so many resources, why did they go ahead of us and why did we lag behind them in the race of development?
75 years have passed since our independence, the generations have become young, and how many vicissitudes have come, since the Cold War, we have had three wars with India. As a federation, we could not be stable in terms of economy and institutions.
We have been a frontline state in the international agenda, sometimes against the Soviet Union, sometimes in the background of jihadists. A thought was born in our state and it became a reality. We have strengthened extremist thinking, we have provided the umbrella of the state for this extremist thinking, these extremist thoughts and ideas do not tolerate democracy, and the ruling class has used it to hold the constitution hostage so that the system Let’s talk about change, make it a lesson.
There is no doubt that the newly independent Pakistan of that time was surrounded by many difficulties, but our Pakistan after independence was much better and unique in many respects. Pakistan was an agriculturally self-sufficient country. In which there was the world’s largest irrigation system.
Five major rivers of the western arm irrigated the lands. The eastern arm of the country i.e. East Pakistan was called the country of rivers and streams. There were 700 small rivers and streams and the largest delta in the world was also there.
East Pakistan was the leading country in the world in terms of tea plantations and production, similarly, it was second to none in the world in terms of cotton production and industry. East Pakistan was also the center of art, literature, and fine arts. After independence, there were 700 cinemas.
The literacy rate was also much higher. Among Bangla poets, poets like Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Salam were born. The world of political and academic knowledge of Bengal was recognized. It was a common saying that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks a hundred years from now.
In 1947, the total population of Pakistan was 75 million. The eastern wing of Pakistan i.e. East Pakistan was 5 times smaller than West Pakistan but had 56% of the population. It has to be considered why for the first time in history the majority of a country was forced to separate from the minority what were the factors and was it inevitable?
In my opinion, during the 75-year history, there were two periods in which we missed opportunities to establish a strong democratic, political, and economic system in the country. The first period was from 1947 to 1958. Political instability was created, during which seven prime ministers changed.
The constitution of 1956 was made, but instead of holding elections under it, martial law was imposed in 1958, after which the people of East Pakistan became increasingly frustrated and ended up in Bangladesh. The second period was from 1970 to 1977.
After the general elections, the supreme power was not transferred to the Parliament and in 1971, Pakistan became a state. The first elected parliament drafted the first constitution for the rest of Pakistan in 1973, but the constitution-making parliament and prime minister were dismissed and the prime minister was hanged.
Similarly, we missed another valuable opportunity. The series of crises and contradictions that started after Zia-ul-Haq’s martial law continues till today. For 75 years, no elected prime minister could complete his constitutional term.
75 years later, today is a day to reflect and understand. We got this country after great sacrifices. Jinnah’s August 11th speech is still meaningful today. How Liaquat Ali Khan himself made that writing disappear from the records of Radio Pakistan.
This country is by no means made for dictatorships. Among the two good things that happened after the formation of Pakistan, one was the Constitution of 1973 and the other was the 18th Amendment. Unfortunately, the amendments made by General Zia-ul-Haq in Articles 62-63 were not removed. It itself expanded Article Six to include those who use the doctrine of necessity and legalize churches.
The constitution itself is supreme, after that, if anyone is important then it is the parliament and if the constitution has to be interpreted then it is the job of the court but its job is not to write the constitution itself instead of interpreting the constitution.
After 75 years today, nature is giving us a chance again. The Soviet Union disintegrated after 75 years but we are standing at a turning point from where we have to return to Jinnah’s August 11th speech to the constitution of Pakistan and the basic thing written in it that this country is a federation. The federal units themselves now have to activate the local bodies system or in other words the institutions under Article 140.
We are the fifth largest country in the world in terms of population. We now have to become the fifth largest country in the world economically. The path for this is the same as laid down in the speech of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali on 11th August.
Conclusion
While celebrating the 75th Independence Day, it should be remembered that without the implementation of the Constitution, the rule of law, and the supremacy of the Parliament, our country will never be able to come out of the crisis. So it would be better to take this route instead of doing more experiments after 100 years.
