ISLAMABAD – The nation will celebrate the 76th anniversary of Pakistan Day on Wednesday (today) with a renewed pledge to make Pakistan stronger by completely wiping out the menace of terrorism, achieving sustainable economic growth and greater political stability.
The day (March 23) – which marks the historic event in 1940 when the Lahore Resolution was passed – demanding a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent, will dawn with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital and 21-gun salutes in provincial capitals. Special prayers will be offered in mosques after morning prayers for the integrity and solidarity of the country.
It will be a public holiday and national flag will hoist atop all the government buildings. The traditional military parade will be the mega event of the Pakistan Day celebrations that will be held at the Parade Ground near the landmark Shakarparian hills in Islamabad.
Troops of the Parade including foot columns of Army, Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Frontier Corps, Northern Light Infantry, Mujahid Force, Islamabad Police, tri-service Lady officers, tri-service Armed Forces Nursing Service, Girls Guide, Boys Scouts, Special Service Group from three Services, mechanized columns of Armoured Corps, Artillery, Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Strategic Force Command, Camel Band and President’s body guards will exhibit their professional skills.
Fighter aircraft of PAF, Pakistan Navy and helicopters of the Army Aviation will present the fly-past, while there will be a heartwarming show by the Sherdil formation, JF-17 Thunder and F-16 (Fighting Falcon) of PAF. Skydivers of the three services will also perform para-jumps. Besides other activities, a change of guard ceremony will be held at the tomb of national poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal in Lahore in the morning.
Various political, social, religious, and literary organizations will arrange functions to highlight importance of the Pakistan Resolution that paved the way for the creation of an independent homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent.
Photo exhibitions will be arranged at the arts galleries in different cities depicting different aspects of Independence Movement and photographs of the founding fathers. The day will also be celebrated with traditional zeal and enthusiasm in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan Day functions will also be held at Pakistani missions abroad where ambassadors and high commissioners will unfurl the national flag and read out the messages of the President and Prime Minister.
Radio Pakistan, Pakistan Television and other electronic channels will broadcast special programmes on the occasion, while newspapers will publish special supplements, highlighting significance of the day. Foolproof security arrangements have been made to avoid any untoward incident, besides a special traffic plan for the day in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
