Pakistan celebrates birthday in style
PAKISTAN yesterday celebrated 70 years of independence from British India with a patriotic display including a giant flag and a show of airpower, as the military’s top brass vowed to wipe out terrorists days after a deadly blast.
Celebrations began at the stroke of midnight with firework shows in major cities.
At the highly symbolic Wagah eastern border crossing with India, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa raised a massive national flag on a 122m pole as crowds chanted patriotic slogans.
Following the chest-thumping performance, Bajwa said the country was making progress and promised to go after each and every terrorist in Pakistan.
“We have made a few mistakes in the past, but we are on the road to development under the guidance of our constitution,” he said.
A powerful bomb targeted a military vehicle in the restive capital of Balochistan province late on Saturday, killing 14 people including several troops.
The military said the blast, claimed by the Islamic State group, was intended to mar independence day celebrations.
Pakistan also faces fresh political turmoil after the Supreme Court last month sacked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif following an investigation into corruption allegations against his family.
In Islamabad, his newly elected successor Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, along with top generals and foreign dignitaries, presided over a 31-gun salute and flag-raising ceremony to mark the holiday.
“The independence that we got 70 years ago was the fruit of the exemplary struggle of our ancestors,” Abbasi said in an address to the nation.
Further south in Karachi, the day began with a changing of the guard at the mausoleum of the country’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, where politicians and military commanders laid floral wreaths.
The skies above the capital were later streaked with multicoloured smoke as the air force hosted Pakistan’s largest air show to date.
Fighter jets criss-crossed over the leafy capital in aerobatic manoeuvres as thousands packed shoulder to shoulder applauded from a park below. Planes from close allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey also took part.
In nearby Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Christians held special services at a church and freed doves to mark the holiday.