Official Logo of 70 years of Independence celebrations launched

Lahore : The Official Logo of the 70 years of independence celebrations was launched here Friday at a ceremony held at Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

The ceremony was attended by Minister for Railways Saad Rafiq , Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Prime Minister’s Adviser on National History and Literary Division Irfan Siddiqui.

In her speech Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the Prime Minister had constituted a Cabinet Committee comprising Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Saad Rafiq and herself, which would also include representatives from all the provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. The committee will oversee the preparations for the celebration of 70th Independence Day of Pakistan in a befitting manner, which would span over four months from August to December.

Marriyum said that celebrations with the theme “Mein Hoon Pakistan” would focus on national history, culture and languages of different regions of the country.

Revealing details about the selection of the logo, she informed the audience that 200 artists had submitted 400 entries of logo designs and the competition was won by third year student of National University and Science and Technology Saba Zaman, who will be awarded Rs 500,000 by the government of Pakistan.

She said that the objectives of the independence celebrations included creation of awareness among the new generation about the sacrifices given by our forefathers for achieving independence, revival of the original narrative of Pakistan and ensuring connectivity of the younger generation with the culture and heritage of the country, in conformity with the vision of the Prime Minister.

Marriyum said that on the directive of the Prime Minister all the province had been given equal funds for the celebrations. She said that the Ministry of IB & NH and its attached departments including Pakistan Television Corporation, Radio Pakistan, Associated Press of Pakistan, National Council of Arts, Lok Virsa and Press Information Department (PID) have prepared special programmes with timelines. 

The minister said that PTV had prepared a special travelogue from Khunjerab to Gwadar with focus on culture, heritage and languages of all areas of the country. She said that the Radio Pakistan had also prepared series of special programmes in that regard.

She said that Press Information Department and APP had great importance in regards to the independence celebrations due to the fact that they had maintained archives in respect of the freedom struggle and could provide the required source material for the programmes and different activities contemplated to be undertaken.

She revealed that PNCA had also arranged special programmes for the occasion. The minister said that a cultural troupe organized by PNCA will start its journey from Urmachi and reach Gwadar passing through the CPEC route, which will immensely contribute to strengthening of cultural ties between China and Pakistan as well as enhance the prospects of increased people to people contact.

She said that Lok Virsa had also scheduled special programmes on culture and heritage of the country with due focus on provincial representation. She said that concept of Rising Pakistan with focus on four years development in infrastructure, energy, health and education, economic and cultural sector would also be spotlighted.

She said that Pakistan had been facing the scourge of terrorism for the past three decades which promoted a culture of intolerance in the society adding that under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif it had been checked in its tracks.

She said that during the past four years, record number of development projects were launched in the country. Marriyum observed that the people of Pakistan including civil society, intelligentsia, politicians had given great sacrifices for democracy.

The MOS requested all media houses to display this logo during the celebrations of the 70 years of independence. She said that the Prime Minister had also invited private sector to join these celebrations as all have contributed in the progress of the country.

She said that for the first time publications were being prepared on diplomatic relations, parliamentary history and role of the parliament in regards to human rights for which Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had made major contribution.

Minister for Railways Saad Rafiq said squabbling among politicians was hindering progress of the country which was poised to join top economies of the world in the near future. He said that political squabbles would have to be eliminated if we wanted to leave a brighter Pakistan for the posterity. He said that the geo-strategic position of Pakistan played a pivotal role in launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) reiterating that the credit for this mega project  and other development ventures rightly went to the Prime Minister.

The railway minister said that a myriad good things were happening in Pakistan and in spite of difficulties the country had taken positive strides towards peace and prosperity. He said that professionals and sportsmen had achieved distinctions in their respective fields; the country has made headway in the field of education and thousands of Pakistani youth were studying in the best universities around the world. 

Khawaja Saad said that Pakistan was established through a long drawn political struggle and a democratic process and Quaid-i-Azam has given a vision for change through democratic process and the power of vote. He said that Pakistanis had a strong relationship with democracy, and political leaders in different eras played their role in reviving democracy after three periods of dictatorship.

The minister said, “We are an alive nation and it is not just a political slogan.” He said people had the right to choose or reject somebody and nobody could stop them from expressing their views. He observed that the political parties in the country had attained maturity through an evolutionary process adding that politicians were not as bad as they were often portrayed.

Adviser to Prime Minister Irfan Siddiqui said that Pakistan had seen many ups and downs since its creation, but the 1973 Constitution was a major landmark which kept the country united after the tragic incidents of 1971.He said that only those nations made strides in the comity of nations which remained steadfast on the path adopted by them.

Irfan Siddiqui said that despite uncertainty and agitation the development projects launched during the past four years were big achievement of the present government.He said that giving hope to the nation, especially youth was necessary, as those nations which faced despair and frustration could not make fast progress. He said that stability was necessary for progress of any nation and one method of bringing stability was to promote heritage and culture.

He said that during the past four years things had improved and domestic tourism had witnessed a record boom, which was manifestation of the fact that law and order situation and economic condition of the people had improved.

About History and Literary Heritage Division, he said that an endowment fund had been created for encouragement of new writers with Rs 500 million grant from the Prime Minister. Moreover, he said that Pakistan Academy of Letters had opened new offices in Quetta, Peshawar, FATA, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

He said that the Urdu dictionary of Urdu Dictionary Board having 22 volumes had also been digitalized.He said that an international calligraphic exhibition would be held as part of 70th year of independence celebrations in which articrafts of 50 international calligraphers would be displayed.

He said that it was a matter of great pride that one Pakistani calligrapher Shafiq uz Zaman has done calligraphy in the Masjid-i-Nabvi.