Independence Day (Pakistan)

Independence Day (; "Yāum-e-Āzādi") is a holiday in Pakistan. It has been celebrated every year on 14 August since 14 August 1948. On that date, British India became an independent country, the Dominion of Pakistan. (The Dominion of Pakistan became today's Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956, on Republic Day.) It commemorates the day when Pakistan achieved independence and was declared a sovereign state following the end of the British Raj in 1947. Pakistan came into existence as a result of the Pakistan Movement, which aimed for the creation of an independent Muslim state in the north-western regions of British India via partition. The movement was led by the All-India Muslim League under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The event was brought forth by the Indian Independence Act 1947 under which the British Raj gave independence to the Dominion of Pakistan which comprised West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In the Islamic calendar, the day of independence coincided with Ramadan 27, the eve of which, being Laylat al-Qadr, is regarded as sacred by Muslims.