Why do we celebrate Pakistan Day?

This is what residents of Peshawar had to say when The Express Tribune went knocking to find answers

PESHAWAR:

The Lahore Resolution was passed during the All India Muslim League annual session, which lasted from March 22 to 24 in 1940.

The resolution suggested carving out independent states based on certain ideological and geographical understandings. It stated “no constitutional plan would be acceptable to the Muslims unless geographical contiguous units are demarcated into regions so constituted with such territorial adjustments as may be necessary”, asking that Muslim majority areas are grouped into independent states – autonomous and sovereign.



These states would have “mandatory safeguards” which would constitutionally protect minority faiths, their religion, culture, economic and other rights “with their consultation”.

Most of us studied the passing of this resolution – some in more detail than others. Yet, with the state of education in a steady decline, Pakistan Day as it is known has been more about march pasts and a glorification of military strength.

The Express Tribune spoke to people on the streets of Peshawar to see what they truly understand of the day marked as a public holiday and whether their feelings coincided with the show of might televised across the country. Here is what some of them had to say.



Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2016.