Pakistan celebrates 72nd Independence Day: Country looks on with hope but continues fighting terrorism, corruption

Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day on Tuesday while the country waits for its prime minister-in-waiting to take oath. There is a lot of hope riding on the Imran Khan government as it is Pakistan’s third successive democratic transition to an elected government. And that,  as _The News Internatio_nal puts it, is in itself a milestone for a country which has been ruled by the military for most of its years as an independent nation. [caption id=“attachment_4764811” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “With the new government set to take charge, there are many who are full of hope that the PTI will conjure some kind of magic fix all ills. But there are others for whom there remain irreparable scars over the democracy. The election itself was a reminder of another ill Pakistan has not been able to completely deal with,” The News International’s editorial reads. This year, Pakistan has achieved much on the political front as examples of a Dalit Hindu woman being elected to the Senate, a minority member winning a general seat for the first time in the history of the country, and a Sheedi woman taking oath as MPA from Sindh constituency came to the fore. However, there are still a lot of challenges ahead of the South Asian nation with terrorism and a weak economy looming large over its growth prospects. “It is rather unfortunate, but not surprising, that after 70 years independence, minorities in Pakistan still have to ask for a more inclusive society,”  highlights _Daw_n. Non-Muslims cannot aspire to be in the higher offices and that in itself, Dawn says, “makes non-Muslims second-class citizens, excluded from serving their country in certain capacities, a discrimination based solely on faith.” “A constitutional democracy can only be strengthened when all citizens, regardless of their faith, actually believe they are equal before the law,” Dawn adds. However, according to The Nation, “the last 70 years of Pakistan’s existence prove that the country and its people take pride in their existence and have created a working model for themselves not entirely dependent on other nations.” It further says that “if Pakistan, with all its challenges, is able to harness the energy of its youth towards something positive, it may turn out to be the Pakistan that was envisioned by its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.” “There is no denying that the country faces many issues, particularly the increasing debt, the lapsing economy and the mounting international pressure but has also make some of the most progressive decisions. The fact that a country like Pakistan has produced a female Prime Minister, has managed to introduce the women protection bill, and offers legal rights to the transgender shows that there is hope”, concluded The Nation.