THE Pakistan Day parade this year was held on March 25 after it could not be held on March 23 owing to inclement weather. It was held in Islamabad where Covid positivity rate was declared alarmingly high by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which had decided to impose strict lockdowns and other restrictions.

The strict measures to be adopted to curtail the spread of the virus included banning of all contact sports, festivals, cultural and other events etc. During these hard times, there stands a big question mark as to why this annual event took place, and why the NCOC did not advise the organisers to cancel the event. This year, the Pakistan Day should have been observed with simplicity.

Besides, the parade was held on March 25, which is a reminder of the painful and bitter history related to the erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971.

Aamir Aqil
Lahore

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AGAINST heavy odds in the shape of the raging pandemic, the Pakistan Day parade was still held on March 25 this year even though on quite a few earlier occasions it was cancelled on various grounds.

Regardless of the parade though, the Lahore Resolution historically was passed on March 24, 1940, at the 27th annual session of the All-India Muslim League (AIML), held in Lahore from March 22 to 24. The resolution was later amended by the AIML convention in Delhi that was held from April 7 to 9, 1946. It makes sense to mark April 9 as the Pakistan Resolution Day, as the amendment on that day proposed the establishment of a single sovereign ‘state’ and not ‘states’ as was mentioned in the Lahore Resolution.

Before 1956, Pakistan Day was celebrated on Aug 14, and to commemorate the occasion a parade used to be held at the Polo Ground in Karachi.

However, March 23 has another significance, as on this day Pakistan became a republic in 1956, and the country had its first constitution enforced. For two subsequent years, the day was celebrated as the Republic Day, which was later changed to Pakistan Day.

In any case, the Lahore Resolution was adopted on March 24; not March 23. It is time we put the record straight, and presented actual history to our future generations.

Muhammad K. Sufi
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2021