Pakistan Day Message on March 23, 1973

Pakistan. Day comes this year in the midst of campaign resolutely undertaken by the nation to secure the organization of its affairs through the democratic process. It is this process which the draft constitution, now before the Assembly, seeks to define.

The adoption of the constitution will be milestone in Pakistan’s history. For twenty six years, a power structure dominated by the bureaucracy and a military junta and bolstered by self-seeking politicians they wanted the establishment of democratic institutions and denied to the people and ordered political life. The nation remained in the grip of a deadly vice forged by the egoism of one group and the obscurantism of another. The result was the complacency; the confusion, the inherence and the loss of pride and confidence which brought us untold sorrow and splintered the nation founded in 1947.

We have now progressed along the path of revival. This rapid recovery has been due as much to the efforts of the government as to the vitality and resilience of the people. Though we still face formidable problems concerning our security and survival. We will not be daunted by them nor surrender out honor and integrity. Unafraid of any adversary without and watchful over the enemy within, we will preserve in the long, hard task of building a Pakistan free from exploitation and at peace with all those neighbors who wish it well. Our people’s spirit and faith is the guarantor of our rejuvenated Pakistan will be a source of strength to the Muslim world and an asset to the Asian-African community. It will ensure peace with justice in South Asia and translate into reality the lustrous vision of its creation.