The Nazria Pakistan Trust’s 3rd annul conference concluded on Saturday after three days. It was chaired by Trust Chairman Majid Nizami, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper as well as the Nawai-i-Waqt Group. The concluding session’s chief guest was Punjab Governor Latif Khosa, who made all the right noises when he said that the government would never compromise on the defence of the country, but did not explain why it was so subservient to the USA. He claimed that the government could not imagine handing over Raymond Davis, the American accused of murdering two Pakistani young men in Lahore, but he did not mention why the suspicion arose, which was because of the government’s track record so far, which consisted of steps smacking of subservience. Another important issue highlighted by Mr Nizami, who addressed conference on all the three days it was held, was that of water. He explained, with great conviction, why India was taking away Pakistan’s water, how this issue was linked to the Kashmir dispute, and how the illegal Indian occupation of Kashmir showed its undying hatred of Pakistan, and its refusal to accept its existence, and its efforts to thus undo the Partition which had created Pakistan.
The conference provided another opportunity for revisiting Pakistan’s ideology at a time when Pakistan faces existential challenges not just from India, but also from the USA, which had chosen India to be its regional counterweight to China, and thus wanted its regional problems solved on its terms. The conference provided an opportunity for a revival of the spirit of the Pakistan Movement. It was worth noting that even Governor Khosa found that he had to pay tributes to the Quaid-e-Azam, not the founder of his party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and certainly not its present leader, Asif Zardari, for the movement which led to the creation of Pakistan. – Nation
