Pakistan was a dream that turned into reality and has now transformed into a septuagenarian force. Jinnah’s dream was simple. His idea of a composite and integrated Muslim nationhood and the right of Muslims to have a separate state constituted the keystone of the demand for Pakistan. Very demanding and hard was road to freedom and was achieved after a lot of sacrifices by millions of Muslims who moved from India to Pakistan. Hindus and Sikhs went on a killing spree slaughtering men, women and children, and in some instances kept children as slaves and women as their booty. History witnessed brutality at its worst as the migration assumed staggering proportions; 15 million people were displaced and between 200,000 and 2,000,000 lost their lives in the ensuing communal violence.

Yet another challenge was managing the newborn state with almost negligible resources and a multitude of challenges. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah worked day and night and did everything which was even beyond possible. State affairs were managed well but by his passing away just one year after the creation of Pakistan we lost one of the greatest statesmen in the world.

70 years later, in our war against terrorism, we have garnered results in the form of sharp statistical decline in terror attacks. Karachi has been relatively stabilized and has seen improvement in basic law and order. Balochistan is much peaceful and stable despite being enemies’ special target ground. Since the launch of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, the army has launched various IBOs and major operations in the country. These endeavors of Pakistan Army have restored peace to a great extent.

ISIS is the new emerging threat that Afghanistan has been unable to contain due to the internal complexities and Afghanistan government being characteristically bereft of control over their territory. The foreign forces haven’t achieved much success on that front either. However, Pakistan gave a rather prompt response against this newly emerging threat and the first phase of Operation Khyber-IV completed successfully after clearance of few high mountain tops in the Rajgal Valley of Khyber Agency largely curtailing the scope of terrorist activities. In their push forward, Pakistan Army troops have cleared areas up to the international border with Afghanistan. This is also a reflection of Pakistan's commitment to deny any safe havens to terrorists on its soil, and secure the border to stop terrorists’ movements towards any side of the border. Pakistan expects the same degree of commitment from Afghanistan towards border control measures.

After curtailing the violence to a considerable extent, we are now on our path to peace, stability and progress. The CPEC, while establishing the strategic structure of bilateral cooperation, will prove to be a bridge between the engines of growth and global economic integration. The Armed Forces’ role has been pivotal in CPEC security as 15,000 military personnel have been deployed as part of the Special Security Division (SSD) by Pakistan Army, and, Maritime Security Force (MSF) by Pakistan Navy. Apart from security on land for CPEC, relevant initiatives have been taken through the maritime security agency to protect the coast as well as through Pakistan Air Force.

For Pakistan to pave way for success and evolve as a nation, every institution must do its job for grass root stability, revival and prosperity. Like Quaid-i-Azam said on March 23, 1945: "In Pakistan lies our deliverance, defence and honour…. In our solidarity, unity and discipline lies the strength, power and sanction behind us to carry on this fight successfully. No sacrifice should be considered too great. I can assure you that there is nothing greater in this world than your own conscience and, when you appear before God, you can say that you performed your duty with the highest sense of integrity, honesty and with loyalty and faithfulness.” We must find the true meaning of togetherness and vow to be truly patriotic and serve the country by working endlessly and selflessly to align it with Quaid’s ideas and ideals.

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