Are we eligible to celebrate Pakistan day?

“The Mussalmans are not a minority. They are a nation by any definition. By all canons of International law, we are a nation” Quaid at Historic Muslim League session in 1940.

“Are we eligible to celebrate Pakistan day?” Every time I try to delve deeply into the backdrop of Pakistan Day, this is the first thought that comes to me. To crack the code, let us look into the meaning of this day.

On March 23, 1940, the Pakistan Resolution, commonly known as the Lahore Resolution, was adopted. It is now known as Pakistan Day. Every year, the people of Pakistan celebrate March 23 as Pakistan Day with great enthusiasm and zeal.

It also marked the official acceptance that Pakistan should be established as a distinct homeland for the subcontinent’s Muslim people. While the resolution included citizens of different religions and acknowledged them as equal stakeholders, its goal was to shield Muslims from persecution.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah said in a speech on March 23, 1940, “While one of the different nations residing in the Indian subcontinent had a clear predominance over the other, there was an ocean of differences between the two groups in terms of religion and culture, and if they proceeded to co-exist in a united India, schisms between them could result in catastrophic consequences in the future.” This was his argument for the existence of two nations and his demand for the creation of an independent Muslim country. Based on the existence of Muslim majorities in many locations, primarily on the western and eastern margins of the continent, he proposed the separation of Muslim communities from the larger Indian subcontinent.

But do we realize that he was targeting two birds with one stone? He gave the message of separatism to all subcontinent. Still, for Muslims, the core essence of that day was Unity. Thanks to the Muslims’ sincere practical Unity under the leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan became a reality on August 14, 1947.

But the level of Unity started deteriorating after experiencing numerous crises. The first bruise inflicted on the Unity of Muslims was the separation of East and West Pakistan in 1971, after which West Pakistan gained independence as Bangladesh. After that, the differences between Muslims only grew larger like there was no end to it which made Pakistan end up with problems like terrorism, political and economic instability, poor infrastructure, corruption, soaring prices, energy shortage, unemployment, crimes, lack of health facilities, and dependence upon the US-led developed countries, IMF and World Bank for financial aid and the list goes on.

Even in the past year, Pakistan was quite unstable as it came out from a battle with the coronavirus pandemic and floods. The industries were restarting, and Pakistan was regaining its footing, but another political drama broke out instead of everyone being on the same page and boosting the economy. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI cabinet was overthrown by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and the PDM eventually took its place.

Even now, when Pakistan is on the verge of default, what are political parties doing other than raiding each other places, character assassination, jalsas, and judicial hearings? What is our administration doing? Do we see any development? Is there even a tiny drop of Unity in the scenario? NO!! So, without the essence of March 23, Pakistan day, are we eligible to celebrate it?