TODAY, as Pakistan commemorates its 85th National Day, the enduring legacy of the Lahore Resolution reverberates across a labyrinth of competing narratives.

Grassroots activism has continually reshaped Pakistan’s national identity, sparking ongoing discussions about the country’s future.

In a seminal gathering at Minto Park (present-day Iqbal Park) in Lahore on March 23, 1940, the All-India Muslim League promulgated a historic resolution that irrevocably altered the subcontinent’s destiny.

The document expounded the fundamental principle that “geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions…in which the Muslims are numerically in the majority…to be constituted into ‘independent states.

” Although the term “Pakistan” was never explicitly invoked, the doctrinal essence resonated as an unambiguous call for a separate homeland for the Muslims of British India.

On that fateful day, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, clad in his traditional black achkan, delivered an oration that galvanized an assembly of dignitaries, including the Nawab of Mamdot and other preeminent statesmen.

Jinnah’s articulate address highlighted the stark cultural, religious and social divergences between Hindus and Muslims, effectively dismissing any possibility of a unified constitutional order.

His visionary rhetoric laid the foundations for the eventual partition in the next seven years setting the trajectory for the evolution of Muslim’s national identity.

The........

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