Seventy-four years ago, our ancestors and political leaders fought for the independence of this nation. They struggled and made innumerable sacrifices. The untiring efforts of Quaid e Azam, the works of Allama Iqbal, the moralizing of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and the struggles of thousands of Muslim freedom fighters was to build a separate homeland where all those people and their coming generations could enjoy political and social liberties and live freely according to their own wish. Their hard work actually paid off and on 14 August 1947, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan came into being.
Today, although we celebrate this day with great zeal and enthusiasm, we can never imagine the peace and tranquillity those new Pakistanis would have felt 74 years ago after a long history of enslavement. Our generation never had to fight for our common rights or are suppressed for our basic needs; we never had to face that level of tyranny. We got this free Pakistan on a silver platter.
However, in 2019, after the world got hit by the worst disease of our times, I can say that this pandemic has taught us the importance of freedom. The struggle is not even close to what our brave leaders faced, but this lockdown and quarantine have clearly taught us how helpless and feeble captivity is and we now know how priceless freedom can be. The freedom to move in and out of our homes, the freedom to go to school or work, the freedom to meet our friends and family, the freedom to cherish spending time outside, even the freedom to go to mosques to offer daily prayers.
So, this Independence Day, now that we know the great significance of freedom, we should celebrate with sincerity and gratefulness towards our fearless leaders whose sacrifices made our lives free and easy. Moreover, we should act as responsible citizens of Pakistan, practice social distancing, follow all SOPs to bring our lives back to normal and get our unsung freedom once again.