Monday 21 March 2011

Republic Day (Pakistan)


بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم
السلامُ علیکم و رحمۃ اللہ و برکاتہ


The Pakistan Day is a national holiday in Pakistan to commemorate the Lahore Resolution and also to celebrate the adoption of the first constitution of Pakistan in 1956 during the transition of the Dominion of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan of March 23, 1956.

History

Pakistan had obtained its independence from the British Raj the 14th of August 1947. 23 March was originally supposed to commemorate the adoption of the first constitution of Pakistan and thus the declaration of Pakistan as a republic. Later on when General Ayub Khan abrogated the constitution and declared Martial Law. The Martial Law regime, in order to justify celebrating the national day, changed it to commemorate the 1940 landmark, during which All-India Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution which later cemented the formation of a new nation in the sub-continent as Pakistan, even though it did not mention Pakistan at all. The Lahore Resolution was passed on 23 March 1940, although the Muslim League annual conference was held from 22 - 24 March 1940.

Celebrations


Two JF-17 Thunder aircraft at the Joint Services Parade in 2007
The celebrations regarding the holiday include a full military and civilian parade in the capital, Islamabad. These are presided by the President of Pakistan and are held early in the morning. After the parade, the President confers national awards and medals on the awardees at the Presidency. Wreaths are also laid at the mausoleoums of Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah

http://www.heritage.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/23march.jpg.



History of Pakistan


The first known inhabitants of the modern-day Pakistan region are believed to have been the Soanian - Homo erectus, who settled in the Soan Valley and Riwat almost 2 million years ago. Over the next several thousand years, the region would develop into various civilizations like Mehrgarh and the Indus Valley Civilization. Prior to the creation of Pakistan in 1947, modern-day Pakistan was part of the medieval and subsequently of colonial India. Throughout its history, the region has been also been a part of various other kingdoms like Indian, Greek, Mongol, Persian, Turkic, Arab and British. The region's ancient history also includes some of the oldest empires from the subcontinent[1] and some of its major civilizations.[2][3][4][5] The political history of the nation began with the birth of the All India Muslim League in 1906 to protect Muslim interests, amid fears of neglect and under-representation of Muslims, in case the British Raj decided to grant local self-rule. On the 29 December 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal called for an autonomous state in "northwestern India for Indian Muslims".[6] The Muslim League rose to popularity in the late 1930s. Muhammad Ali Jinnah espoused the Two Nation Theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution[7] of 1940, demanding the formation of independent states for Muslims in the East and the West of British India. Eventually, a united Pakistan with there wings-Pakistan]] and East Pakistan - gained independence from the British, on 14 August 1947. Modern-day Pakistan came in existence in 1971, after a civil war in the distant East Pakistan and emergence of an independent Bangladesh.
Independence from the British Raj witnessed unprecedented and prolonged communal riots eventually resulting in millions of Muslims migrating to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrating to India. The Hindu Maharaja of princely state of Kashmir which itself is a Muslim-majority region was hesitant to accede to India or Pakistan although negotiations continued between Maharaja and both India and Pakistan. The Maharaja started unarming the Muslim soldiers in his militia and the police. Foreseeing the results of this, a group of Kahmiri muslims took up arms against the Maharaja. As they ran short of weapons the freedom fighters asked the Pashtun tribals for help. Maharaja requested India for forces to help crush the rebellion however India refused to send forces until Maharaja decided on accession. On 25 October the tribals were close to the capital Srinagar hence Maharaja signed instrument of accession with India. Based on instrument of accession Kashmir became part of India and on 26 October the Indian forces were airlifted to Srinagar to defend it from foreign militia. Since the armed rebellion was unlikely to succeed in face of Indian army Pakistan decided to send its regular forces, however the British General of Pakistan armed forces refused to send regular troops saying that he was subject to permission from Mountbatten the Governer General of India, the unorganized tribals were forced out of Srinagar by the heavilly armed Indian forces, whereas they retained control of what became Pakistan Administered Kashmir. Pakistan refused to grant General Gracey an extension and percieved it good to appoint a Pakistani General as head of the armed forces. LOC demarcation done in 1949 stopped till point NJ 9842 shot of marking position around the Siachen Glacier. In 1984, backed by the Soviet Union to exert pressure on Pakistan stop the assistance to Afghan Mujahideen, India sent forces in Siachen Glacier, where they remain to this day. India controls 80% of Siachen Glacier while the other 20% of Siachen Glacier and the whole of Baltoro Glacier is controlled by Pakistan. Siachen is the highest battleground in the world.
Pakistan declared itself an Islamic republic on adoption of a constitution in 1956, but the civilian rule was stalled by the 1958 military coup d'etat by Ayub Khan, who ruled during a period of internal instability and a second war with India in 1965. Economic grievances and political dissent in East Pakistan led to violent political tensions and army repression, escalating into civil war[8] followed by the third war with India. Pakistan's defeat in the war ultimately led to the secession of East Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh.[9]
Civilian rule resumed from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, until he was deposed by General Zia-ul-Haq, who became the country's third military president. Pakistan's secular policies were replaced by the Islamic Shariah legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military. With the death of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Over the next decade, she alternated power with Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation worsened. Military tensions in the Kargil conflict[10] with India were followed by a 1999 coup d'état in which General Pervez Musharraf assumed executive powers. This occurred due to the defeat of Pakistan by India in Kargil and the economic hardship that followed after the Kargil conflict.[11]
In 2001, Musharraf named himself President after the resignation of Rafiq Tarar. In the 2002 Parliamentary Elections, Musharraf transferred executive powers to newly elected Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was succeeded in the 2004 by Shaukat Aziz. On 15 November 2007 the National Assembly completed its term and a caretaker government was appointed with the former Chairman of The Senate, Muhammad Mian Soomro as Prime Minister. Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, that resulted in a series of important political developments, her husband Asif Ali Zardari was eventually elected as the new President in 2008.

یوم پاکستان


"یوم پاکستان" پاکستان کی تاریخ کا بہت اہم دن ھے ۔ اس دن قرارداد پاکستان پیش کی گئی تھی۔ قرارداد پاکستان جس کی بنیاد پر مسلم لیگ نے برصغیر میں مسلمانوں کے جدا وطن کے حصول کے لیے تحریک شروع کی تھی اور سات برس کے بعد اپنا مطالبہ منظور کرانے میں کامیاب رہی۔وہ مطالبہ جو اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان کے نام سے دنیا کے نقشے پر ابھرا۔اس دن "23 مارچ" پورے پاکستان میں عام چھٹی ہوتی ہے۔

http://urdupages.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131719&d=1186231602

Happy Pakistan Day, Lets follow the dream



Pakistan Day, Minar-e-Pakistan


The Muslim League

The All-India Muslim League was founded on 30 December 1906, on the sidelines of the annual All India Muhammadan Educational Conference in Shahbagh, Dhaka.[46] The meeting was attended by three thousand delegates and presided over by Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk. It addressed the issue of safeguarding interests of Muslims and finalised a programme. A resolution, moved by Nawab Salimullah and seconded by Hakim Ajmal Khan. Nawab Viqar-ul-Milk, declared:
The Musalmans are only a fifth in number as compared with the total population of the country, and it is manifest that if at any remote period the British government ceases to exist in India, then the rule of India would pass into the hands of that community which is nearly four times as large as ourselves ...our life, our property, our honour, and our faith will all be in great danger, when even now that a powerful British administration is protecting its subjects, we the Musalmans have to face most serious difficulties in safe-guarding our interests from the grasping hands of our neighbors.[47]
Choudhary Rahmat Ali
The constitution and principles of the League were contained in the Green Book, written by Maulana Mohammad Ali. Its goals at this stage did not include establishing an independent Muslim state, but rather concentrated on protecting Muslim liberties and rights, promoting understanding between the Muslim community and other Indians, educating the Muslim and Indian community at large on the actions of the government, and discouraging violence. However, several factors over the next thirty years, including sectarian violence, led to a re-evaluation of the League's aims.[48][49] Among those Muslims in the Congress who did not initially join the League was Muhammed Ali Jinnah, a prominent statesman and barrister in Bombay. This was because the first article of the League's platform was "To promote among the Mussalmans (Muslims) of India, feelings of loyalty to the British Government".
In 1907, a vocal group of Hindu hard-liners within the Indian National Congress movement separated from it and started to pursue a pro-Hindu movement openly. This group was spearheaded by the famous trio of Lal-Bal-Pal - Lala Lajpat Rai , Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal of Punjab, Bombay and Bengal provinces respectively. Their influence spread rapidly among other like minded Hindus - they called it Hindu nationalism - and it became a cause of serious concern for Muslims. However, Jinnah did not join the League until 1913, when the party changed its platform to one of Indian independence, as a reaction against the British decision to reverse the 1905 Partition of Bengal, which the League regarded it as a betrayal of the Bengali Muslims.[50] After vociferous protests of the Hindu population and violence engineered by secret groups, such as Anushilan Samiti and its offshoot Jugantar of Aurobindo and his brother etc., the British had decided to reunite Bengal again. Till this stage, Jinnah believed in Mutual co-operation to achieve an independent, united 'India', although he argued that Muslims should be guaranteed one-third of the seats in any Indian Parliament.

Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal
The League gradually became the leading representative body of Indian Muslims. Jinnah became its president in 1916, and negotiated the Lucknow Pact with the Congress leader, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, by which Congress conceded the principle of separate electorates and weighted representation for the Muslim community.[51] However, Jinnah broke with the Congress in 1920 when the Congress leader, Mohandas Gandhi, launched a law violating Non-Cooperation Movement against the British, which a temperamentally law abiding barrister Jinnah disapproved of. Jinnah also became convinced that the Congress would renounce its support for separate electorates for Muslims, which indeed it did in 1928. In 1927, the British proposed a constitution for India as recommended by the Simon Commission, but they failed to reconcile all parties. The British then turned the matter over to the League and the Congress, and in 1928 an All-Parties Congress was convened in Delhi. The attempt failed, but two more conferences were held, and at the Bombay conference in May, it was agreed that a small committee should work on the constitution. The prominent Congress leader Motilal Nehru headed the committee, which included two Muslims, Syed Ali Imam and Shoaib Quereshi; Motilal's son, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, was its secretary. The League, however, rejected the committee's report, the so called Nehru Report, arguing that its proposals gave too little representation (one quarter) to Muslims – the League had demanded at least one-third representation in the legislature. Jinnah announced a "parting of the ways" after reading the report, and relations between the Congress and the League began to sour.

Muslim homeland - "Now or Never"

The election of Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government in 1929 in Britain, already weakened by World War I, fuelled new hopes for progress towards self-government in British-India. Gandhi travelled to London, claiming to represent all Indians and criticising the League as sectarian and divisive. Round-table talks were held, but these achieved little, since Gandhi and the League were unable reach a compromise. The fall of the Labour government in 1931 ended this period of optimism. By 1930 Jinnah had despaired of Indian politics and particularly of getting mainstream parties like the Congress to be sensitive to minority priorities. A fresh call for a separate state was then made by the famous writer, poet and philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal, who in his presidential address to the 1930 convention of the Muslim League said that he felt that a separate Muslim state was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated South Asia.[6][52] The name was coined by Cambridge student and Muslim nationalist Choudhary Rahmat Ali,[53] and was published on 28 January 1933 in the pamphlet Now or Never.[54] After naming the country, he noticed that there is an acronym formed from the names of the "homelands" of Muslims in northwest India — "P" for Punjab, "A" for the Afghan areas of the region, "K" for Kashmir, "S" for Sindh and "tan" for Balochistan, thus forming "Pakstan".[citation needed] An "i" was later added to the English rendition of the name to ease pronunciation, producing "Pakistan". In Urdu and Persian the name encapsulates the concept of pak ("pure") and stan ("land") and hence a "Pure Land".[55] In the 1935, the British administration proposed to hand over substantial power to elected Indian provincial legislatures, with elections to be held in 1937. After the elections the League took office in Bengal and Punjab, but the Congress won office in most of the other provinces, and refused to share power with the League in provinces with large Muslim minorities.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, Muslim ideologues for separatism also felt vindicated by the presidential address of V.D. Savarkar at the 19th session of the famous Hindu nationalist party Hindu Mahasabha in 1937. In it, this legendary revolutionary - popularly called Veer Savarkar and known as the iconic father of the Hindutva ideology - propounded the seminal ideas of his Two Nation Theory or Hindu-Muslim exclusivism, which influenced Jinnah profoundly.[citation needed]

Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman seconding the Resolution with Jinnah presiding the session
In 1940, Jinnah called a general session of the Muslim League in Lahore to discuss the situation that had arisen due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the Government of India joining the war without consulting Indian leaders. The meeting was also aimed at analyzing the reasons that led to the defeat of the Muslim League in the general election of 1937 in the Muslim majority provinces. In his speech, Jinnah criticized the Indian National Congress and the nationalist Muslims, and espoused the Two-Nation Theory and the reasons for the demand for separate Muslim homelands.[56] Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Chief Minister of Punjab, drafted the original resolution, but disavowed the final version,[57] that had emerged after protracted redrafting by the Subject Committee of the Muslim League. The final text unambiguously rejected the concept of a United India because of increasing inter-religious violence[58] and recommended the creation of independent Muslim states.[59] The resolution was moved in the general session by Shere-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq, the Chief Minister of Bengal, supported by Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman and other Muslim leaders and was adopted on 23 March 1940.[7] The Resolution read as follows:
No constitutional plan would be workable or acceptable to the Muslims unless geographical contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary. That the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in majority as in the North-Western and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.... That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in the units and in the regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights of the minorities, with their consultation. Arrangements thus should be made for the security of Muslims where they were in a minority.[60]
The Working Committee of the Muslim League in Lahore (1940)
In 1941 it became part of the Muslim League's constitution.[61] However, in early 1941, Sikandar explained to the Punjab Assembly that he did not support the final version of the resolution.[62] The sudden death of Sikandar in 1942 paved the way over the next few years for Jinnah to emerge as the recognised leader of the Indian Muslims.[50] In 1943, the Sind Assembly passed a resolution demanding the establishment of a Muslim homeland.[63] Talks between Jinnah and Gandhi in 1944 in Bombay failed to achieve agreement and there were no more attempts to reach a single-state solution.
World War II had broken the back of both Britain and France and disintegration of their colonial empires was expected soon.[citation needed] Rebellions and protest against the British had increased. With the election of another sympathetic Labour government in Britain in 1945, Indians were seeing independence within reach. But, Gandhi and Nehru were not receptive to Jinnah's proposal and were also adamantly opposed to dividing India, since they knew that the Hindus, who saw India as one indivisible entity, would never agree to such a thing.[50] In the Constituent Assembly elections of 1946, the League won 425 out of 496 seats reserved for Muslims (and about 89.2% of Muslim votes) on a policy of creating an independent state of Pakistan, and with an implied threat of secession if this was not granted.[50] By 1946 the British had neither the will, nor the financial resources or military power, to hold India any longer. Political deadlock ensued in the Constituent Assembly, and the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, sent a cabinet mission to India to mediate the situation. When the talks broke down, Attlee appointed Louis Mountbatten as India's last viceroy, to negotiate the independence of Pakistan and India and immediate British withdrawal. Mountbatten, of imperial blood and a world war admiral, handled the problem as a campaign. Ignorant of the complex ground realities in British India,[citation needed] he brought forward the date of transfer of power and told Gandhi and Nehru that if they did not accept division there would be civil war in his opinion[50] and he would rather consider handing over power to individual provinces and the rulers of princely states. This forced the hands of Congress leaders and the "Independence of India Act 1947" provided for the two dominions of Pakistan and India to become independent on the 14 and 15 August 1947 respectively. This result was despite the calls for a third Osmanistan in the early 1940s.

[edit] Independence of Pakistan


Muhammad Ali Jinnah (right) taking oath from Justice Sir Mian Abdul Rashid (left) as Governor-General of Pakistan on 14 August 1947
On the 14th and 15 August 1947, British India gave way to two new independent states, the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India, both dominions which joined the British Commonwealth. However, the decision to divide Punjab and Bengal, two of the biggest provinces, between India and Pakistan had disastrous consequences. This division created inter-religious violence of such magnitude that exchange of population along religious lines became a necessity in these provinces. More than two million people migrated across the new borders and more than one hundred thousand died in the spate of communal violence, that spread even beyond these provinces. The independence also resulted in tensions over Kashmir leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The post-independence political history of Pakistan has been characterised by several periods of authoritarian military rule and continuing territorial disputes with India over the status of Kashmir.

Modern day Pakistan

First democratic era (1947-1958)


The two wings of Pakistan from 1947 to 1970; East Pakistan became independent in 1971 as Bangladesh.
Between 1947 and 1971, Pakistan consisted of two geographically separate regions, West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Within one year of democratic rule, differences between the two wings of Pakistan surfaced: When Jinnah declared in 1948 that Urdu would be the only state language of Pakistan, it sparked protests in East Bengal (later East Pakistan), where Bengali was spoken by most of the population. The Bengali Language Movement reached its peak on 21 February 1952, when the police and soldiers opened fire on students near the Dhaka Medical College protesting for Bengali to receive equal status with Urdu. Several protesters were killed, and the movement gained further support throughout East Pakistan. Later, the Government agreed to provide equal status to Bengali as a state language of Pakistan, a right later codified in the 1956 constitution.
In 1953 at the instigation of religious parties, anti-Ahmadiyya riots erupted, killing scores of non-Ahmadis and destroying their properties.[64] The riots were investigated by a two-member court of inquiry in 1954,[65] which was criticised by the Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the parties accused of inciting the riots.[66] This event led to the first instance of martial law in the country and began the inroad of military intervention in the politics and civilian affairs of the country, something that remains to this day.[67]

First military era (1958-1971)

Muhammad Ayub Khan.
The Dominion was dissolved on 23 March 1956 and replaced by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with the last Governor-General, Iskandar Mirza, as the first president.[68] Just two years later the military took control of the nation.[69] Field Marshal Ayub Khan became president and began a new system of government called Basic Democracy with a new constitution,[70] by which an electoral college of 80,000 would select the President. Ayub Khan almost lost the controversial 1965 presidential elections to Fatima Jinnah.[71] During Ayub's rule, relations with the United States and the West grew stronger. Pakistan joined two formal military alliances — the Baghdad Pact (later known as the Central Treaty Organization or CENTO) which included Iran, Iraq, and Turkey to defend the Middle East and Persian Gulf against the Soviet Union;[72] and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) which covered South-East Asia.[73] However, the United States dismayed Pakistan by adopting a policy of denying military aid to both India and Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir and the Rann of Kutch.[74] A positive gain of the treaties was the re-srengthening of Pakistan's close historical bonds with its western neighbours.
During the 1960s, amidst the allegations that economic development and hiring for government jobs favoured West Pakistan, there was a rise in Bengali nationalism and an independence movement in East Pakistan began to gather ground. After a nationwide uprising in 1969, General Ayub Khan stepped down from office, handing power to General Yahya Khan, who promised to hold general elections at the end of 1970. On the eve of the elections, a cyclone struck East Pakistan killing approximately 500,000 people. Despite the tragedy and the additional difficulty experienced by affected citizens in reaching the voting sites, the elections were held and the results showed a clear division between East and West Pakistan. The Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a majority with 167 of the 169 East Pakistani seats, but with no seats in West Pakistan, where the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won 85 seats, none in East Pakistan. However, Yahya Khan and Bhutto refused to hand over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated a civil disobedience movement, which was strongly supported by the general population of East Pakistan, including most government workers. A round-table conference between Yahya, Bhutto, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was convened in Dhaka, which, however, ended without a solution. Soon thereafter, the West Pakistani Army commenced Operation Searchlight, an organized crackdown on the East Pakistani army, police, politicians, civilians, and students in Dhaka. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and many other Awami League leaders were arrested, while others fled to neighbouring India. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was taken to West Pakistan. The crackdown widened and escalated into a guerrilla warfare between the Pakistani Army and the Mukti Bahini (Bengali "freedom fighters").[8] In March 1971, India's Prime Minister announced support for the Liberation War, providing military assistance. Ultimately 300,000 to 3,000,000 died in the war[75] and millions Hindus and Bengali fled to India.[76] On 27 March 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman, a Bengali war-veteran of the East Bengal Regiment of the Pakistan Army, declared the independence of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh on behalf of Mujib.
Following a period of covert and overt intervention by Indian forces in the conflict, open hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan on 3 December 1971. In Bangladesh, the Pakistani Army led by General A. A. K. Niazi, had already been weakened and exhausted by the Mukti Bahini's guerrilla warfare. Outflanked and overwhelmed, the Pakistani army in the eastern theatre surrendered on 16 December 1971, with nearly 90,000 soldiers taken as prisoners of war. The result was the defacto emergence of the new nation of Bangladesh,[9] thus ending 24 years of turbulent union of the two wings. The figures of the Bengali civilian death toll from the entire civil war vary greatly, depending on the sources. Although the killing of Bengalis was unsupported by the people of West Pakistan, it continued for 9 months. Pakistan's official report, by the Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission, placed the figure at only 26,000, while estimates range up to 3 million.
Discredited by the defeat, General Yahya Khan resigned and Bhutto was inaugurated as president and chief martial law administrator on 20 December 1971.

 Second democratic era (1971-1977)

Civilian rule returned after the war, when General Yahya Khan handed over power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1972, Pakistani intelligence learned that India was close to developing a nuclear bomb, and in response, Bhutto formed a group of engineers and scientists, headed by nuclear scientist Abdus Salam — who later won the Nobel Prize for physics — to develop nuclear devices. In 1973, Parliament approved a new constitution. Pakistan was alarmed by the Indian nuclear test of 1974, and Bhutto promised that Pakistan would also have a nuclear device "even if we have to eat grass and leaves."
During Bhutto's rule, a serious rebellion also took place in Balochistan province and led to harsh suppression of Baloch rebels with the Shah of Iran purportedly assisting with air support in order to prevent the conflict from spilling over into Iranian Balochistan. The conflict ended later after an amnesty and subsequent stabilization by the provincial military ruler Rahimuddin Khan. In 1974, Bhutto succumbed to increasing pressure from religious parties and helped Parliament to declare the Ahmadiyya adherents as non-Muslims. Elections were held in 1977, with the Peoples Party won but this was challenged by the opposition, which accused Bhutto of rigging the election process. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq took power in a bloodless coup and Bhutto was later executed, after being convicted of authorizing the murder of a political opponent, in a controversial 4-3 split decision by the Supreme Court.

[edit] Second military era (1977-1988)

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.
Pakistan had been a US ally for much of the Cold War, from the 1950s and as a member of CENTO and SEATO. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan renewed and deepened the US-Pakistan alliance. The Reagan administration in the United States helped supply and finance an anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan, using Pakistan as a conduit. In retaliation, the Afghan secret police, KHAD, carried out a large number of terrorist operations against Pakistan, which also suffered from an influx of illegal weapons and drugs from Afghanistan. In the 1980s, as the front-line state in the anti-Soviet struggle, Pakistan received substantial aid from the United States as it took in millions of Afghan (mostly Pashtun) refugees fleeing the Soviet occupation. The influx of so many refugees - the largest refugee population in the world[77] - had a heavy impact on Pakistan and its effects continue to this day. Zia's martial-law administration gradually reversed the socialist policies of the previous government, and also introduced strict Islamic law in 1978, often cited as the contributing factor in the present climate of sectarianism and religious fundamentalism in Pakistan. Ordinance XX was introduced to limit the freedom of the Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims in Pakistan. Further, in his time, secessionist uprisings in Balochistan were put down violently but successfully by the provincial governor, General Rahimuddin Khan.
Zia lifted martial law in 1985, holding non-partisan elections and handpicking Muhammad Khan Junejo to be the new Prime Minister, who readily extended Zia's term as Chief of Army Staff until 1990. Junejo however gradually fell out with Zia as his administrative independence grew; for example, Junejo signed the Geneva Accord, which Zia greatly frowned upon. After a large-scale blast at a munitions dump in Ojhri, Junejo vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the significant damage caused, implicating several senior generals. Zia dismissed the Junejo government on several charges in May 1988 and called for elections in November 1988. However, Zia died in a plane crash on 17 August 1988.

Benazir Bhutto, late leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party

Third democratic era (1988-1999)

From 1988 to 1999, Pakistan was ruled by civilian governments, alternately headed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who were each elected twice and removed from office on charges of corruption. During the late 1990s, Pakistan was one of three countries which recognized the Taliban government and Mullah Mohammed Omar as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan.[78] Allegations have been made of Pakistan and other countries providing economic and military aid to the group from 1994 as a part of supporting the anti-Soviet alliance. It is alleged that some post-invasion Taliban fighters were recruits drawn from Pakistan's madrassahs. Economic growth declined towards the end of this period, hurt by the Asian financial crisis, and economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan after its first tests of nuclear devices in 1998. The Pakistani testing came shortly after India tested nuclear devices and increased fears of a nuclear arms race in South Asia. The next year, Kargil attack by Pakistan backed Kashmiri militants threatened to escalate to a full-scale war.[10]
In the 1997 election that returned Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister, his party received a heavy majority of the vote, obtaining enough seats in parliament to change the constitution, which Sharif amended to eliminate the formal checks and balances that restrained the Prime Minister's power. Institutional challenges to his authority led by the civilian President Farooq Leghari, military chief Jehangir Karamat and Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah were put down and all three were forced to resign - Shah doing so after the Supreme Court was stormed by Sharif partisans.[79]

[edit] Third military era (1999 - 2007)


Former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif
On 12 October 1999, Sharif attempted to dismiss army chief Pervez Musharraf and install Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director Ziauddin Butt in his place, but senior generals refused to accept the decision.[80] Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial airliner to return to Pakistan. Sharif ordered the Jinnah International Airport to prevent the landing of the airliner, which then circled the skies over Karachi. In a coup, the generals ousted Sharif's administration and took over the airport.[11] The plane landed with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and General Musharraf assumed control of the government. He arrested Sharif and those members of his cabinet who took part in this conspiracy. American President Bill Clinton had felt that his pressure to force Sharif to withdraw Pakistani forces from Kargil, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, was one of the main reasons for disagreements between Sharif and the Pakistani army. Clinton and King Fahd then pressured Musharraf to spare Sharif and, instead, exile him to Saudi Arabia, guaranteeing that he would not be involved in politics for ten years. Sharif lived in Saudi Arabia for more than six years before moving to London in 2005.

General Pervez Musharraf.
On 12 May 2000 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the Government to hold general elections by 12 October 2002. In an attempt to legitimize his presidency[81] and assure its continuance after the impending elections, Musharraf held a controversial national referendum on 30 April 2002,[82] which extended his presidential term to a period ending five years after the October elections.[83] Musharraf strengthened his position by issuing a Legal Framework Order in August 2001 which established the constitutional basis for his continuance in office.[84] The general elections were held in October 2002 and the centrist, pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) won a majority of the seats in Parliament. However, parties opposed to the Legal Framework Order effectively paralysed the National Assembly for over a year. The deadlock ended in December 2003, when Musharraf and some of his parliamentary opponents agreed upon a compromise, and pro-Musharraf legislators were able to muster the two-thirds majority required to pass the Seventeenth Amendment, which retroactively legitimized Musharraf's 1999 coup and many of his subsequent decrees. In a vote of confidence on 1 January 2004, Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was elected to the office of President.[85]
While economic reforms undertaken during his regime yielded positive results, proposed social reforms were met with resistance. Musharraf faced opposition from religious groups who were angered by his post-9/11 political alliance with the United States and his military support to the American led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He survived several assassination attempts by groups believed to be part of Al-Qaeda, including at least two instances where they had inside information from a member of his military security. citation needed
Pakistan continues to be involved in a dispute over Kashmir, with allegations of support of separatist Kashmiri militants being leveled against Pakistan by India - which treats them as terror-groups - while Pakistan charges that the Indian government abuses human rights in its excessive use of military force in the disputed region. What makes this dispute a source of special concern for the world community is that both India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons. It had led to a nuclear standoff in 2002, when Kashmiri-militants, allegedly backed by the ISI, attacked the Indian parliament. In reaction to this, serious diplomatic tensions developed and India and Pakistan deployed 500,000 and 120,000 troops to the border respectively.[86] While the Indo-Pakistani peace process has since made progress, it is sometimes stalled by infrequent insurgent activity in India, such as the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Pakistan also has been accused of contributing to nuclear proliferation; its leading nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, admitted to selling nuclear secrets, though he denied government knowledge of his activities.
After the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the Pakistani government, as an ally, sent thousands of troops into the mountainous region of Waziristan in 2002, in search of bin-Laden (who claims responsibility for master-minding the 11 September attacks in 2001) and other heavily armed al-Qaeda members, who had taken refuge there. In March 2004, heavy fighting broke out at Azam Warsak (near the South Waziristan town of Wana), between Pakistani troops and these militants (estimated to be 400 in number), who were entrenched in several fortified settlements. It was speculated that bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri was among those trapped by the Pakistani Army. On 5 September 2006 a truce was signed with the militants and their local rebel supporters, (who called themselves the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan), in which the rebels were to cease supporting the militants in cross-border attacks on Afghanistan in return for a ceasefire and general amnesty and a hand-over of border-patrolling and check-point responsibilities, till then handled by the Pakistan Army.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif attempted to return from exile on 10 September 2007 but was arrested on corruption charges after landing at Islamabad International Airport. Sharif was then put on a plane bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, whilst outside the airport there were violent confrontations between Sharif's supporters and the police.[87] This did not deter another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, from returning on 18 October 2007 after an eight year exile in Dubai and London, to prepare for the parliamentary elections to be held in 2008.[88][89] However, on the same day, two suicide bombers attempted to kill Bhutto as she travelled towards a rally in Karachi. Bhutto escaped unharmed but there were 136 casualties and at least 450 people were injured.[90]
On 3 November 2007, General Musharraf proclaimed a state of emergency and sacked the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry along with other 14 judges of the Supreme Court.[91][92] Lawyers launched a protest against this action but they were arrested. All private media channels were banned including foreign channels. Musharraf declared that the state of emergency would end on 16 December 2007.[93] On 28 November 2007, General Musharraf retired from the Army and the following day was sworn in for a second presidential term.[94][95]
On 25 November 2007, Nawaz Sharif made a second attempt to return from exile, this time accompanied by his brother, the former Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif. Hundreds of their supporters, including a few leaders of the party were detained before the pair arrived at Lahore International Airport.[96][97] The following day, Nawaz Sharif filed his nomination papers for two seats in the forthcoming elections whilst Benazir Bhutto filed for three seats including one of the reserved seats for women.[98]
On 27 December 2007, Benazir Bhutto was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when she was assassinated by a gunman who shot her in the neck and set off a bomb,[99][100] killing 20 other people and injuring several more.[101] The exact sequence of the events and cause of death became points of political debate and controversy, because, although early reports indicated that Bhutto was hit by shrapnel or the gunshots,[102] the Pakistani Interior Ministry stated that she died from a skull fracture sustained when the explosion threw Bhutto against the sunroof of her vehicle.[103] Bhutto's aides rejected this claim and insisted that she suffered two gunshots prior to the bomb detonation.[104] The Interior Ministry subsequently backtracked from its previous claim.[105] However, a subsequent investigation, aided by the Scotland Yard of U.K., supported the "hitting the sun-roof"" as the cause of her death. The Election Commission, after a meeting in Islamabad, announced that, due to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,[106] the elections, which had been scheduled for 8 January 2008, would take place on 18 February.[107]
A general election was held in Pakistan, according to the revised schedule, on 18 February 2008,).[108][109] Pakistan's two big and main opposition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)), won majority of seats in the election and formed a government. Although, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML (Q)) actually was second in the popular vote, the PPP and PML (N) have formed the new coalition-government.
On 7 August, the deadlock between ruling parties ended when the coalition government of Pakistan decided to move for the impeachment of the President before heading for the restoration of the deposed judiciary. Moreover, they decided that Pervez Musharraf should face charges of weakening Pakistan's federal structure, violating its constitution and creating economic impasse.[110]
After that, President Pervez Musharraf began consultations with his allies, and with his legal team, on the implications of the impeachment; he said that he was ready to reply to the charges levied upon him and seek the vote of confidence from the senate and the parliament, as required by the coalition parties. However, on 18 August 2008, President Pervez Musharraf announced in a televised address to the nation that he had decided to resign after nine years in office.
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قومی ترانہ


پاک سرزمین شاد باد
كشور حسين شاد باد
تو نشان عزم عالي شان
ارض پاکستان!
مرکز یقین شاد باد
پاک سرزمین کا نظام
قوت اخوت عوام
قوم ، ملک ، سلطنت
پائندہ تابندہ باد
شاد باد منزل مراد


پرچم ستارہ و ہلال
رہبر ترقی و کمال
ترجمان ماضی شان حال
جان استقبال!
سایۂ خدائے ذوالجلال


Urdu

Transliteration

Translation
:اے سرزمین پاک
ذرے ترے ہیں آج ستاروں سے تابناک
روشن ہے کہکشاں سے کہیں آج تیری خاک
تندی حاسداں پہ ہے غالب تیرا سواک
دامن وہ سل گیا ہے جو تھا مدتوں سے چاک
اے سرزمین پاک

Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!
Zare tere hain aaj sitaron se tabnak
Roshan hai kehkashan se kahin aaj teri khak
Tundi-e-hasdan pe ghalib hai tera swaak
Daman wo sil gaya hai jo tha mudaton se chaak
Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!

O, Land of the Pure
The grains of your soil are glowing today
Brighter than the stars and the galaxies
Awe-struck is the enemy by your will-power
Open wounds are sewn, we’ve found a cure
O, Land of the Pure…
:اب اپنے عزم کو ہے نیا راستہ پسند
اپنا وطن ہے آج زمانے میں سر بلند
پہنچا سکے گا اس کو نہ کوئی بھی اب گزند
اپنا علم ہے چاند ستاروں سے بھی بلند
اب ہم کو دیکھتے ہیں عطارد ہوں یا سماک
اے سرزمین پاک

Ab apne azm ko hai naya rasta pasand
Apna watan hai aaj zamane main sar buland
Pohncha sake ga is ko na koi bhi ab gazand
Apna alm a hai chand sitaron se bhi buland
Ab ham ko dekhtey hain atarad hon ya samaak
Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!

New paths of progress, we resolve to tread
Proudly, our nation stands with a high head
Our flag is aflutter above the moon and the stars
As planets look up to us be it Mercury or Mars
No harm will now come from anywhere, for sure
O, Land of the Pure…
:اترا ہے امتحان میں وطن آج کامیاب
اب حریت کی زلف نہیں محو پیچ و تاب
دولت ہے اپنے ملک کی بے حد و بے حساب
ہوں گے ہم آپ ملک کی دولت سے فیض یاب
مغرب سے ہم کو خوف نہ مشرق سے ہم کو باک
اے سرزمین پاک

Utra hai imtehan main watan aaj kamyab
Ab huriat ki zulf nahin mahiv-e-paich-o-taab
Daulat hai apne mulk ki be had-o-be hisaab
Hon ge ham aap mulk ki daulat se faiz yab
Maghrib se hum ko khauf na mashriq se hum ko baak
Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!

The nation has tasted success at last
Now freedom struggle is a thing of the past
The wealth of our country knows no bounds
For us are its benefits and bounty all around
Of East and West, we have no fear
O, Land of the Pure…
:اپنے وطن کا آج بدلنے لگا نظام
اپنے وطن میں آج نہیں ہے کوئی غلام
اپنا وطن ہے راہ ترقی پہ تیز گام
آزاد، بامراد، جوان بخت شاد کام
اب عطر بیز ہیں جو ہوائیں تھیں زہر ناک
اے سرزمین پاک

Apne watan ka aaj badalne laga nizam
apne watan main aaj nahin hai koi ghulam
apna watan hai rah-e-taraqi pe tez gam
azad, bamurad jawan bakht shad kaam
ab itr bez hain jo hawain thin zehr naak
Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!

Change has become the order of the day
No-one is a slave in the nation today
On the road to progress, we’re swiftly going along
Independent and fortunate, happy as a song
Gloomy winds are gone, sweet freedom’s in the air
O, Land of the Pure…
:ذرے تیرے ہیں آج ستاروں سے تابناک
روشن ہے کہکشاں سے کہیں آج تیری خاک
اے سرزمین پاک

Zare tere hain aaj sitaron se tabnak
Roshan hai kehkashan se kahin aaj teri khak
Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!

The grains of your soil are glowing today
Brighter than the stars and the galaxies
O, Land of the Pure...


Happy Pakistan Day
23rd March is celebrated as Pakistan Day every year here in Pakistan mainly because of the Pakistan resolution we passed back in 1940 on same date. This was the start of Pakistan Movement consisted of struggle for a new separate country for Muslims of Indian subcontinent  where they can live independently and peacefully without  any influence form Hindus and British who never treated us equal back in those days.
Now we are living what our ancestors dreamed about 70 years back, at least we have our independence today and can do anything without any foreign influence if we want to.
Congratulating you on all on this independence I would like to add that we have not fully achieved what was dreamed in 1940′s resolution, we still have get rid of remained foreign influences on our soil, have to get rid of bad security situation, we have revive our economy, lots to be done in education sector in terms of increasing literacy rate and quality of education, health sector needs much of advancement, we have to be united on national level by forgetting any stuff which is planted here to divide us and above all we have to choose the right people to lead our country. The last sentence is the key to everything I have said above, because as soon as we will get able to choose the right, loyal and honest people to lead our country, much of other worries will go away automatically.
When we will have achieved of what I have mentioned above, still we will have to follow the dream, follow the dream to make this nation the greatest nation of the world. I assure this is not just a dream we have got potential, we have people who are working hard with honestly in whatever they do, also believe me they are in majority, what all we have to do is to get rid of internal corruption we are facing in this country.
The way around I have figured out around this is changing the top level leadership of country to honest, loyal, capable and trustworthy people, when we will have top level corruption gone, the pressures and strategies from top level will make corruption go away from all lower levels.
Secondly if we as individuals are not corrupt, this is not enough to get away, we will have to incorporate the zero tolerance for corruption in ourselves. That will demand us to go around everything in right manner without using any money or personal contacts, pointing out and exploiting the people who make people do those two things to their things done.
There is lots more which can be added to this topic but the point is we all have to be loyal and honest to our country and people, and as I said earlier worries will go away automatically. Lets consider this Pakistan Day as starting point to change everything we have towards everything we must have. It is the time to do the right thing or otherwise we may not be there to correct the things.

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I Still Love Pakistan do you





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With Good Regards

Pak Flag
Long Live Pakistan
Heaven on Earth
Pakistan is one of the biggest blessings of Allah for any Pakistani. Whatever we have today it’s all because of Pakistan, otherwise, we would have nothing. Please be sincere to Pakistan.
Pakistan Zindabad!

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/



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