ISLAMABAD, March 22: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that the government can take pride in restoring the Quaid-i-Azam’s vision of Pakistan as a tolerant and peace loving nation.

In his message to the nation on Pakistan Day, he said Pakistan’s role in the fight against terrorism abroad and militancy at home had brought in accolades.

“We would continue with this policy not due to any external pressure or desire to please anyone but as a national agenda aimed at translating Quaid-i-Azam’s vision of Pakistan into reality,” he said.

Gen Musharraf expressed the hope that the general elections in October would bring into power a leadership that would bring greater strength and glory to Pakistan.

He said the Quaid-i-Azam embodied Islamic principles of tolerance and humanism which enabled him to rally around not only Muslim public opinion of all shades but also support from other minorities, to demand and create a separate Muslim homeland.

It is a tribute to his leadership and honesty of purpose that within seven years he secured Pakistan against heavy odds through peaceful means, the president said.

“We have restored Pakistan to its people by empowering them at a grassroots level and re-establishing the writ of the government,” he said.—APP