ALKHOBAR, 26 March 2004 — Pakistan Day was celebrated by a large number of Pakistanis at a function organized by the Pakistani Community Council at Marhaba Restaurant. Ilyas Khan, the general manager of Tammimi Catering was the guest of honor.

It was on March 23, 1940, that a resolution for the creation of Pakistan was passed. Seven years later, Pakistan became a reality.

The function was marked by emotional speeches in which the speakers professed their love for Pakistan.

Keynote speaker Prof. Anis Ahmed said some Pakistanis had become disillusioned with the bleak conditions in their country. “But we must never stop believing in the ideology of Pakistan,” he added.

Sajid Khan Abbasi, PCC’s chief patron, said: “Our spirit of patriotism has waned a bit. We need to become Pakistani in action and commitment, not only in words.”

Aftab Abbasi and Zahoor Ahmed Choudhary stressed the need to learn lessons from the past. “We did not learn from our past mistakes when our country was split in 1971.”

Shaukat Ali, a well-known community member, said Pakistanis should not be so pessimistic. “We have a lot to be grateful for. If you want to know the value of Pakistan, ask the people of Palestine and Bosnia. Pakistan has natural wealth, factories and universities. Before 1947, there was only Punjab University, now there are so many.”

Ilyas Khan said Pakistanis need to be less emotional and more united. “Islam teaches us peace and unity, but we are always fighting one another. History shows that we ourselves have been our worst enemies. We need to support our government and provide constructive criticism; otherwise we will become instruments in the hands of our enemies.”

At the end, Javed Inam, PCC’s president thanked all the attendees and said that there was a lot that Pakistan had to celebrate. “According to Transparency International, our top brass is corruption free. This has never been the case before. Pakistan has come down in corruption from being fourth to 42nd. Our literacy rate has gone up to 45 percent. Our economy is struggling, but Shaukat Aziz, Hafeez Shaikh and Ataur Rahman are all aware of the grassroot problems and working on them.”

Earlier, Khalid Mahmoud of the Kashmir Information Center expressed gratitude for the support Pakistanis had always shown to the problems of the Kashmiris.

A special prayer was said for the assassinated Palestinian leader Sheikh Yassin.