Pakistan Independence Day marks fulfilment of dream of safe haven for Muslims

Country marks 75 years since British formally handed over power to founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Pakistan will mark its 75th anniversary of independence from British rule on Sunday, with celebrations scheduled to take place nationwide.

Power was transferred to Pakistan's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on August 14, 1947, by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of British India and the first governor-general of the Dominion of India.

Jinnah was head of the All-India Muslim League, which had led the growing demands during the 1940s for a separate homeland for the Muslim minority of South Asia as the incidence of violence between Muslims and Hindus increased.

Under the Mountbatten Plan approved earlier in 1947, Pakistan was created out of north-western and eastern parts the British-ruled Indian subcontinent, while the rest became modern-day India.

Pakistan celebrates 75 years of independence

Both were granted dominion status as step towards obtaining full independence. The eastern part of Pakistan became Bangladesh after independence from Islamabad in 1971.

The division in 1947, known as the Partition, was followed by widespread violence between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs as millions migrated between the newly created states according to their religion.

“We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another,” Jinnah, who became Pakistan’s first president, said in a speech during the handover of power.

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“We are all citizens and equal citizens of one state.”

Despite Pakistan's origins as a homeland for Muslims, Jinnah insisted that the new country would guarantee religious freedom for all.

People “may belong to any religion, or caste, or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the state”, he said an address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in August 1947.

Jinnah died the following year, but his legacy remains a central theme of independence day celebrations.

The main celebration takes place in Islamabad, where the national flag is raised at the Presidential and Parliament buildings and the country’s leadership makes televised speeches to the nation.

Cultural songs, parades, flag-raising ceremonies and fireworks are seen across Pakistan on the day.

Street traders and shops have been selling thousands of flags and patriotic accessories in the past week.

Updated: August 14, 2022, 8:30 AM