President Pervez Musharraf called on Pakistani people to continue to root out terrorism as the country observed its national day and an operation to hunt down Al Qaeda loyalists continued on Tuesday.
| Kinda late in the game for that, isn't it? |
For the second year in a row, a traditional military parade displaying the countryâs military might, including heavy weaponry and nuclear-tipped missiles, was cancelled for reasons of cost.
| That military might doesn't come cheap, does it? And if you actually try to use it, it costs more. |
However, Musharraf did perform an investiture ceremony to decorate military officers and personnel, some posthumously. The current chief of the countryâs nuclear programme, Samar Mubarakmand, was among the prominent personalities recognised for services to the nation. One of his predecessors, Abdul Qadeer Khan, recently admitted selling nuclear secrets abroad. Pakistan Day commemorates a declaration made on March 23, 1940, which led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947. âI ... urge all Pakistanis to remain steadfast and united to achieve the ideals and aspirations for which our country was created,â Musharraf said in a statement to the nation. âAs we commemorate this day we have to remember that the struggle must go on, particularly against those forces that aim to deflect us from our cherished goal of making Pakistan a modern and progressive Islamic welfare state.â |