Friday, August 14, 2009

Dear Pakistan

Dear Pakistan,

Happy birthday! Today you have turned 62 and I, like most other Pakistanis around the world, would like to wish you a very happy birthday. I hope you have many many more birthdays and that our generations to come salute you and respect you, more than this generation.

Now that I look back to my 25 years with you, I see that I haven't really contributed to your welfare. I haven't been there for you like you have been there for me. You gave me an identity, gave me a place to call my first home, gave me the memories of my childhood, gave me the beautiful urdu language, gave me an awesome cricket team (full of surprises), gave me the beautiful mountains and desserts and much more.  It is unfortunate, that I could not give you back as much as I woul

  • Blessed to be with you

  • Life in Pakistan

  • The troubled time

  • The rough road ahead

  • What I will do for you

  • What we can all do for you

  • T20 World champions


As your 62nd birthday approaches I keep thinking of ways to wish you. I keep looking back at my 25 years with you and my experiences with you. 25 years might not be a long time but I can still remember the good days when people used to have their houses drenched with flags. We as kids used to be able to run around the streets playing cricket. Things weren't always bright, but as a little child I had my hopes up.

As I grew up, I realized how blessed I am to have you as my motherland. Even when the things seem to be all blue and you face
1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, passes away

1951: Prime minister Khan Liaqat Ali Khan assassinated

1956: The Constituent Assembly promulgates first indigenous constitution

1958: After a military coup dictorial Ayub Khan takes over

1960: Ayub Khan becomes first elected president

January 2 1964: Fatima Jinnah lost the presidential elections, Ayub completes the second term

1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir

1969: Ayub Khan resigns; Yahya Khan declares martial law and assumes presidency

1971: East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war; India intervenes in support of East Pakistanis; Pakistan fights another war with India; East Pakistan breaks away to become Bangladesh; Yahya Khan resigns.

1972: Karachi labour unrest of 1972 and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes president

1973: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister

1977: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq overthrows prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and declares martial law

1978: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq becomes Pakistan's sixth president

1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged

1979: The military ruler Zia Ul-Haq enacts the controversial Hudood Ordinances

1985: General elections held; Muhammad Khan Junejo becomes prime minister

1988: Zia dismisses Junejo's government; Zia dies in a plane crash; New elections held; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister

1988: Prominent Pashtun leadar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan dies in Peshawar

1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Benazir Bhutto government; Mian Nawaz Sharif becomes the next prime minister

1991: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.

1993: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military. Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister for the second time

1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto government

1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time

May 28 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests

1999: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf

2001: General Pervez Musharraf dismissed the president and named himself to the post.

2002: General Pervez Musharraf wins a referendum thus ensures 5 more years in office

2002: First general elections since the 1999 military coup held; Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes the next prime minister

2004: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigns from office

2004: Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister

2005: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake kills an estimated 80,000 people in northern Pakistan. (see:2005 Pakistan earthquake)

2006: Pakistan army kills the prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar khan Bugti

2007: Chief Justice of Pakistan removed from office and reinstated. 2007 Karachi Riots. Lal Masjid Operation

2007: President Pervez Musharraf declares a 2007 Pakistani state of emergency and later removes it after domestic and international pressure

2007: Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated

2008: Elections in Pakistan, results in new government to be formed in center and provinces.

2009: 16 March, 2009 As the result of long march Lawyers' Movement succeeded. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was restored as Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges dismissed by Musharraf

1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor general of Pakistan, passes away

1951: Prime minister Khan Liaqat Ali Khan assassinated

1956: The Constituent Assembly promulgates first indigenous constitution

1958: After a military coup dictorial Ayub Khan takes over

1960: Ayub Khan becomes first elected president

January 2 1964: Fatima Jinnah lost the presidential elections, Ayub completes the second term

1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir

1969: Ayub Khan resigns; Yahya Khan declares martial law and assumes presidency

1971: East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war; India intervenes in support of East Pakistanis; Pakistan fights another war with India; East Pakistan breaks away to become Bangladesh; Yahya Khan resigns.

1972: Karachi labour unrest of 1972 and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes president

1973: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister

1977: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq overthrows prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and declares martial law

1978: General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq becomes Pakistan's sixth president

1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged

1979: The military ruler Zia Ul-Haq enacts the controversial Hudood Ordinances

1985: General elections held; Muhammad Khan Junejo becomes prime minister

1988: Zia dismisses Junejo's government; Zia dies in a plane crash; New elections held; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister

1988: Prominent Pashtun leadar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan dies in Peshawar

1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Benazir Bhutto government; Mian Nawaz Sharif becomes the next prime minister

1991: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation programme. Islamic Shariah law formally incorporated into legal code.

1993: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military. Benazir Bhutto becomes prime minister for the second time

1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto government

1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time

May 28 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests

1999: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf

2001: General Pervez Musharraf dismissed the president and named himself to the post.

2002: General Pervez Musharraf wins a referendum thus ensures 5 more years in office

2002: First general elections since the 1999 military coup held; Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes the next prime minister

2004: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigns from office

2004: Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as prime minister

2005: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake kills an estimated 80,000 people in northern Pakistan. (see:2005 Pakistan earthquake)

2006: Pakistan army kills the prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar khan Bugti

2007: Chief Justice of Pakistan removed from office and reinstated. 2007 Karachi Riots. Lal Masjid Operation

2007: President Pervez Musharraf declares a 2007 Pakistani state of emergency and later removes it after domestic and international pressure

2007: Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated

2008: Elections in Pakistan, results in new government to be formed in center and provinces.

2009: 16 March, 2009 As the result of long march Lawyers' Movement succeeded. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was restored as Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges dismissed by Musharraf

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