RAWALPINDI: The President Gen A.M. Yahya Khan, said here today [Aug 13] that the people must develop workable political institutions, end all forms of exploitation including favouritism, shed parochial and sectarian attitudes, and firmly check the growth of all forms of intolerance.

In a message to the nation on Independence Day, President Yahya said that “our struggle for independence did not end with the sovereignty and power from the British to our people. Real and meaningful independence has many more dimensions. The people must have the full right and opportunity to exercise their sovereign power. They must ensure for themselves freedom from hunger and disease”.

The President told the people that “as we celebrate this August day, we have a few things to remember, a few things to forget, and a few others to remember not to forget”.

He said: “We have to remember and bow our heads in reverence” to those devoted and disciplined fighters who under the inspired leadership of the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam, fought to achieve for themselves and their future generations a “haven of refuge where they could pursue their way of life and the goals of their spiritual and material wellbeing.”

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2019