Every year, the people of Pakistan celebrate the 23rd of March as the Pakistan Day, with great enthusiasm and zeal. But, this time, the day came at a time when Pakistan stands at the crossroads of its destiny, facing internal and external challenges and threats to national security which are worrying for its citizens.

Particularly, a war-like situation which started between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK),
still exists to some extent, as the extremist government of the BJP, led by Indian fundamentalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has refused the mediatory role of any country, while continuing war hysteria against Pakistan in the wake of acceleration of shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), which resulted into many casualties in the Pakistani side of Kashmir. On the other side, Pakistan’s armed forces are on high alert to give a matching response to any Indian prospective aggression or war. Earlier, the Indian Air Force conducted pre-emptive “air strikes near the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir on February 27, 2018, claiming that Indian fighter jets targeted the camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and killed 350 militants—the group whom New Delhi blamed for the Pulwama attack. Next day, in response, the Pakistan Air Force launched aerial strikes at six targets in IOK and shot down two Indian fighter jets and captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later released as a gesture of peace and handed over to the Indian authorities. It resulted into diplomatic victory of Islamabad over India. Prime Minister Modi, who directed the Indian security forces to accelerate atrocities in the IOK, wants to obtain various designs, especially to suppress the Kashmiris’ war of liberation and to win the general elections at the cost of Pakistan. On the other side, Western media and their officials are insisting upon the settlement of the Kashmir issue. 

In this regard, unlike India, Pakistan’s ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), opposition parties, members of civil societies and the military are on the same page on Indian aggression.

In this respect, on March 1, a joint sitting of the Pakistan’s parliament, in demonstration of unity against any external aggression, passed a unanimous resolution strongly condemning the blatant Indian aggression against the country and the parliamentary leaders said that they stood shoulder to shoulder to the armed forces of Pakistan. The resolution completely rejected India’s self-serving and fictitious claims of having destroyed an alleged terrorist facility—pointing out that facts on the grounds clearly contradict India’s false claim and so have been testified by independent observers. The resolution noted that timely and effective action of the Pakistan Air Force repulsed the Indian attack without loss of life and property. India’s baseless allegations against Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack were politically motivated and the Indian government’s subsequent action has been guided by its electoral calculations. Strongly condemning the Indian atrocities in Indian Held Kashmir, the resolution rejected the India’s attempt to project the legitimate Kashmiri struggle for self-determination as terrorism. It reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute, pending on the agenda of the UN Security Council due to Indian intransigence. It underscored that a just and peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute. The resolution mentioned Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call to avoid further escalation and urged the parliament of India to support the call by the joint session of Pakistani parliament for de-escalation and dialogue between Pakistan and India.

March 23, 1940 was a watershed in the history of the sub-continent, when the All India Muslim League passed a resolution in Lahore for the creation of an independent state. Now, it is popularly called the Pakistan Resolution. Earlier, in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930, the idea of a homeland for Muslims in their majority areas had been envisioned by poet Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal, and had become the aspiration of Indian Muslims.

In fact, the British colonialists, in connivance with the majority Hindu population, had manipulated and targeted Muslims through every possible way. In the background, Muslims started the struggle for a separate state.

Before the Lahore session of the Muslim League, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had specified to this historical congregation of the Muslims, the watch-words of ‘Faith, Unity and Discipline’ which were not only necessary for waging the battle for an independent homeland, but also for present Pakistan. So, while struggling against the enemies, the essence of these watch-words is unity which is the real spirit of the Pakistan Resolution.

It was due to the selfless practical unity among the Muslims under the leadership of Quaid-i-Azam that Pakistan became a reality. But that unity started declining after passing through various crises, and the result was the separation of East Pakistan in 1971, as India manipulated differences between East Pakistan and West Pakistan.

Although, at present Pakistan’s various entities, the masses and the military are united against any prospective Indian aggression, yet, Pakistan Day has come at a time when Pakistan is also facing other multiple threats of grave nature.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to create rift between his party workers and the key institutes of the country after his disqualification by the Supreme Court. Some other political leaders, renowned persons and analysts had also expressed similar thoughts by opining that Nawaz Sharif seemed determined to create anarchy in the country.

It notable that Pakistan’s armed aorces have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists through military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad, which were also extended to other parts of the country, including Balochistan province and Karachi. The Army and the country’s prime intelligence agency, ISI, have broken the network of terrorist groups by capturing several militants, while thwarting a number of terror attempts. Peace has been restored in various regions of Pakistan, including Karachi and Balochistan.

But, foreign elements have, again, started terror attacks in Balochistan and other regions of the country which show that US-led India, Afghanistan and Israel want to weaken Pakistan and to damage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

As Pakistan is the only declared nuclear country in the Islamic world, hence the United States, India and Israel have been acting upon their collective agenda to destabilize it. Besides, after the shift of the Great Game from Central Asia to Pakistan (Balochistan), the country has become the special target of the American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad, which are in collaboration in supporting various terror-related attacks in various cities, including separatist elements in Balochistan.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), based in Afghanistan, has its connections with IS and other terrorist organizations and affiliated terror groups, including Baloch separatist elements, and all these outfits are promoting the anti-Pakistan agenda of the foreign entities against Pakistan. As part of the double game, CIA, RAW, Mossad and Afghan intelligence agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS), which collaborate with each other are using the terror outfits in weakening Pakistan and especially Balochistan in order to fulfill the covert strategic aims of US-led India and Israel against Pakistan, China, Russia and Iran.

At this juncture, Pakistan is also facing multi-faceted crises and challenges, like corruption, soaring prices, energy shortage, unemployment, crime, lack of health facilities, and dependence upon the US-led developed countries, the IMF and the World Bank for financial aid.

Notably, the present drastic situation cannot be comprehended by the masses and even political leaders, who abruptly change their opinion. Therefore, they become an unintentional victim of the external plotters, who succeed in creating a rift, particularly between political groups, divided on ethnic and linguistic lines. These foreign enemies also seek to create a division among political leaders, and parties.

At this critical moment, Pakistan Day demands selfless national unity practically, instead of verbal statements. The significant day emphasizes that our political leaders must pledge that they will not manipulate their regional and provincial differences at the cost of national interests, so as to grab political power. In this respect, a blind dedication to one’s own race, tribe and creed should not be allowed to create hatred in one group against the other. They must avoid exploiting present thorny issues in order to increase their vote bank at the cost of the integration of the country.

Selfless unity demands that if any controversy arises among the politicians, it can better be settled in consonance with the Constitution, law and mutual understanding of the government and political parties.

In this connection, in order to foil the conspiracy of the external enemies against the integrity of the country, our political leaders, media and human rights groups must also play their role.

True and selfless unity against the foreign enemies requires that our rulers and leaders of all political parties must create national cohesion among various segments of society. Especially, our electronic media should give a matching response to malicious propaganda of the Western countries, including India and Israel which are distorting the image of Pakistan.

Especially, on this very day, media must also highlight the national heroes and their efforts, services and sacrifices, rendered for Pakistan and project a soft image of Pakistan by showing tourism sights of the county etc.

Nonetheless, at this crucial time, Pakistan’s survival lies in selfless national unity and strong cohesion as at present, even a layman can note that our country is in chaos.

We must follow the essence of the Pakistan Resolution in real terms by displaying selfless unity in practical terms, which is not possible unless the government, opposition leaders, civil societies and media owners, including all other segments of society, pledge to sign a charter of integration which is necessary to pull the country out of the ongoing serious crises and threats.