Message on the Birth Anniversary of Quaid-I-Azam on December 25, 1972

The birthday this year of Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah is of exceptional significance to the people of Pakistan, for it marks the completion of a quarter century of the nation’s Independence. On no other occasion during the past 25 years was it so necessary for us to rededicate ourselves to the ideals of the Founder of Pakistan as it is today.

Pakistan was brought into being by the successful mass movement of Muslims in the subcontinent led by the Quaid-I-Azam. Through their verdict in the 1946 elections, the Muslims demonstrated their unity and determination for an independent homeland.

Today we need not only to revive active faith in the ideals which inspired the Quaid-i-Azam but also to recreate national unity and resolve with equal force to ensure the survival and greatness of Pakistan.

Those who never took kindly to the concept and creation of Pakistan have been at work for years to divide and destroy our country. It is my hope, it is my belief that our people have learnt a permanent lesson from the treacheries and mistakes of the past. They are now determined and united to ensure that Pakistan shall not only emerge with honor from the conflict and humiliation of 1971, but that it will soon reclaim its rightful place on the political horizon of the world. We owe it to the Quaid-i-Azam as much as we owe it to the posterity to build a new, united and strong Pakistan in which there is no discrimination between man and man, and a Pakistan which can rekindle the light which inspired the Founder of Pakistan.