Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was the leader of Pakistan Movement and close friend of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was born in the town of Karnal, now known as Haryana, East Punjab, British India, on October 1, 1895, to a landholding family. He graduated with a BSc in Political Science and Bachelor of Law in 1918 from the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later Aligarh Muslim University), Aligarh. He entered into politics in 1932 and requested the Quaid to return to the subcontinent to organise the Muslims, as well as the Muslim League. Liaquat Ali was appointed Finance Minister in the interim government in 1946. After independence, Quaid-i-Millat was appointed the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. He presented the national flag in the first Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947. In his speech, he said: This flag will be the flag of freedom, not only for the people of Pakistan; this will be an emblem of peace to help maintain peace throughout the world. The new Dominion of Pakistan faced a number of problems in its early days. Liaquat Ali was determined to resolve the riots and refugee problem, and also to set up an effective administrative system for the country. To achieve this, he prepared the groundwork for Pakistan's foreign policy. In May 1950, he visited the US after being persuaded to snap ties with the Soviet Union and set the course of Pakistan's foreign policy towards building closer ties with the West. Moreover, an important achievement during his premiership was the establishment of National Bank of Pakistan in November 1949, and the installation of a paper currency mill in Karachi. Quaid-i-Millat was assassinated on October 16, 1951 by Saad Akbar Babrak, while he was addressing a public meeting of the Muslim League in the Company Bagh, Rawalpindi. The last words from his mouth were: Khuda Pakistan ke hafazat kara. Pakistan, today, is passing through a critical phase; the leaders and the people need to unite and work, according to the vision of Quaid-i-Millat, for the betterment of the nation. RIZWAN AHMED, Faisalabad, October 1.