Pakistan is celebrating 70 years of independence from its former colonial ruler Britain.<br /><br />The day began with a 21-gun salute in the federal capital, Islamabad, a ceremony repeated in all provincial capitals.<br /><br />In Karachi, a change of Guard also took place at the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, popularly known as “Quaid-e-Azam” (Supreme Leader). Representatives of Pakistan’s army, air force and navy also laid wreaths at the grave and performed a salute.<br /><br />President Mamnoon Hussain used the occasion to call on the country to come together and ignore their differences. <br /><br />As August 14th is a national holiday, millions of Pakistanis took the streets to celebrate with fireworks, flag waving and festivities. <br /><br />RT AamirLiaquat: Thank You #UAE HHShkMohd for the Independence day celebration of #Pakistan at #BurjKhalifa #Pakis… pic.twitter.com/0YBoZ3mLST— Sakina Fatima (@SakinaFatima123) August 14, 2017<br /><br /><br />A very happy Independence Day to #Pakistan and to all those marking the occasion in London and around the world. pic.twitter.com/6qP9uozcWe— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) August 14, 2017<br /><br /><br />At the stroke of midnight on August 14, 1947, the British partitioned British Indian Empire into the two sovereign states of India and Pakistan. India celebrates its independence on August 15.<br /><br />Millions of people’s lives were disrupted in 1947, after departing British colonial administrators ordered the creation of two countries – one mostly Muslim and one majority Hindu.<br /><br />A mass migration followed, marred by violence and bloodshed, as about 15 million Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, fearing discrimination, swapped countries in a political upheaval that cost more than a million lives.<br /><br />India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, and relations remain tense, particularly when it comes to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in full.<br />
