Some Excerpts from Speeches of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Speech written on Celebration of 62^nd Independence Day of Pakistan

August 16, 2008

Our beloved father of nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah said several important things which still stand as our guide posts to help Pakistan develop as a strong, powerful, progressive, and modern Islamic state in the world.

On The Task of Building Pakistan, the Quaid Said:

We have achieved our cherished goal of freedom and have established Pakistan as an independent, sovereign State, fifth largest in the world. That freedom can never be attained by a nation without suffering and sacrifice has been amply borne out by the recent tragic happenings in this subcontinent. We are in the midst of unparalleled difficulties and untold sufferings; we have been through dark days of apprehension and anguish; but I can say with confidence that with courage and self-reliance and by the Grace of God we shall emerge triumphant.

Do not for a moment imagine that your enemies can ever succeed in their designs. But at the same time do not make light of the situation facing you. Search your hearts and whether you have done your part in the construction of this new and mighty State.

On Hard Work, the Quaid’s infamous saying “work, work and work” is an other guideposts for us. Emphasizing the importance of hard work, he once said:

Do not be over whelmed by the enormity of the task. There is many an example in history of young nations building themselves up by sheer determination and force of character. You are made of sterling material and are second to none. Why should you also not succeed like many others, like your own forefathers. You have only to develop the spirit of the "Mujahids". You are a nation whose history is replete with people of wonderful grit, character and heroism. Live up to your traditions and add to it another chapter of glory.

The Quaid sacrificed all his lie for us and always impressed upon the need of sacrifice that each individual of Pakistan needs to contribute to build the nation. On sacrifice for the nation, the Quaid said:

All I require of you now is that everyone of us to whom this message reaches must vow to himself and be prepared to sacrifice his all, if necessary, in building up Pakistan as a bulwark of Islam and as one of the greatest nations whose ideal is peace within and peace.

On Courage and devotion, the Quaid was an example second to none. He courageously stood for the cause of Pakistan and finally achieved the goal and showed to the world that nothing could stop him from getting a peace of land for Indian Muslims. On courage and devotion, de once said:

Along with this, keep up your morale. Do not be afraid of death. Our religion teaches us to be always prepared for death. We should face it bravely to save the honor of Pakistan and Islam.

I would also impress upon every member of this State, particularly our youth, to show the right spirit of devotion, courage and fortitude, to give a lead to the others and to set a nobler and higher example for those who may follow us and the coming generations.

The Quaid himself was one of the most intelligent and a highly educated political leaders in the history of sub-continent. He always emphasized education. And not just the formal education in schools and universities, but education at homes, by the parents. He once noted in his speech:

There is no doubt that the future of our State will and must greatly depend upon the type of education and the way in which we bring up our children as the future servants of Pakistan. Education does not merely mean academic education, and even that appears to be of a very poor type. What we have to do is to mobilize our people and build up the character of our future generations. There is immediate and urgent need for training our people in the scientific and technical education in order to build up future economic life, and we should see that our people undertake scientific commerce, trade and particularly, well-planned industries. But do not forget that we have to compete with the world, which is moving very fast in this direction. Also I must emphasize that greater attention should be paid to technical and vocational education.

And finally, the Quaid always believed in Unity, Faith, and Discipline. He was a staunch believer of unity to achieve collective goals. He said, in one of his speeches:

God has given us a grand opportunity to show our worth as architects of a new State; let it not be said that we did not prove equal to the task.

Do your duty and have faith in God. There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan. It has come to stay.

I assure you, "Divided you fall. United you stand".

These excerpts from our beloved Quaid’s speeches offer enormous wisdom and guidance for us to contribute to our nation and country in our given capacity. Let’s all promise to ourselves that we will follow our Qauid’s principles and values to build Pakistan, as he himself dreamt, one of the greatest nations in the world.

Thank you very much!