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'Unsung' anniversaries --- By Shamshad
Ahmad
For a nation so obsessed with celebrating
non-events every now and then, it was
unusual this year to let two important
anniversarial occasions slip by quietly
without any public jubilation or
ceremonies. The electronic media alone
filled the void by covering both events in
a befitting manner. The media especially
focused on the governance failures and
miscarriages during the first year of the
elected government and assemblies.
The Pakistan Day on 23rd March marking the
passing of historic Pakistan Resolution
and the 1st anniversary of the elected
government in Pakistan after Last year's
February 18 elections were both marked by
absence of national celebrations of any
sorts or scale. Instead, Basant was
celebrated as a national festival in
Punjab under an arbitrary Governor Rule.
This year, the day of 23rd March did start
with traditional but inaudible 31-gun
salute in the federal capital and 21-gun
salutes in all the provincial capitals.
After morning prayers, "special prayers
were said to have been offered for the
integrity, solidarity and prosperity of
the country, unity of Muslim ummah and the
wellbeing of the people." How blind we
always are in our conviction and faith
that our prayers alone will bring
"prosperity" to our country, wellbeing to
our people and unity to the Muslim ummah?
Why doesn't God listen to our prayers?
Perhaps a special meeting of the Friends
of Pakistan might help us in probing this
matter.
This year, the Prime Minister did address
a solo message to the nation. He had only
a few days earlier demonstrated to the
nation the prowess of his "executive
authority" when confronted with the
people's Long March he ordered the
immediate restoration of the deposed
judges of the superior courts. Last year,
in his first speech in the National
Assembly, he had shown a similar courage
by ordering the immediate release of all
detained judges who were put under house
arrest by General Musharraf after he
imposed his November 3
"extra-constitutional" emergency.
The Prime minister's Pakistan Day message
this year was no different from that of
last year or even the years before the
last one. As always, it was a ritualistic
message drafted at the level of Grade 17
bureaucrats or perhaps even more junior
level in the Ministry of Information. In
this message, the Prime Minister called
for "national unity and integrity" and
asked the nation to look into our souls
and hearts, and use the occasion for
stock-taking to assess our national
failures and successes.
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