It was after a long time that we saw Independence Day being celebrated throughout Pakistan with such a fervour and enthusiasm. The smiles on the people’s faces said it all. Besides the major cities of all the provinces, the celebrations also took place at far off places like Quaid-e-Azam residency at Ziarat and North Waziristan. Who would have thought of such environments being secure a year back? The credit for this undoubtedly goes to our valiant armed forces fully backed by political leadership for creating such environments. There is no turning back from here. Hundreds of men in uniform and civilians have laid down their lives to get rid of terrorism. Any attempt to derail the present effort by armed forces and other security agencies would be disastrous for our country.
I see a beginning of a new era in the history of Pakistan where people would feel free to move around and conduct their day to day business. The scourge of terrorism has to be totally eliminated for which our armed forces need full support of each and every individual. The change has already started to show in terms of improvement in law and order situation and economic indicators. We all have to work together to give our children a safer and prosperous Pakistan.
CDRE (R) SAJJAD ALI SHAH BOKHARI,
Islamabad, August 14.