SHOULD we celebrate Aug 14 as our Independence Day or the birthday of Pakistan? Pakistan did not exist before Aug 14, 1947. As such, it was never a country ruled by the British, and, consequently, liberated or granted independence.

Although the name of Pakistan was coined early in 1933 by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali in a pamphlet Now or Never, Pakistan cropped up as a sovereign state on Aug 14, 1947. It was born a free country from its very inception.

It was India that was ruled by the British and given independence by them, not Pakistan. Pakistan was never under the rule of any foreign power. It was created — took its birth — one minute before India was liberated at midnight the same night, but as the date changes after midnight, therefore, India became independent on Aug 15.

We should, therefore, celebrate Pakistan’s birthday, and not its Independence Day.

Mazhar Yousuf Ansari
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2022