Independence Day 2025: government faces backlash for Excluding Founders of Pakistan from Official Ad

Shiite News: This year on August 14, 2025, the front page of Jang newspaper carried an official Independence Day advertisement issued by the Federal Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that sparked widespread anger among patriotic citizens.
The ad prominently displayed the images of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the Army Chief, and senior military leadership, but notably excluded the founding fathers of Pakistan — Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
Critics slammed the move as a blatant disregard for the ideology of Pakistan, calling the current administration an imposed, non-representative government installed through Form-47.
They argued that the leadership, intoxicated by power, has already suppressed citizens’ rights and freedom of expression, and now even on Independence Day, has chosen to ignore the visionaries who created the nation.
They further said that the rulers spend taxpayers’ money all year on self-promotion through millions in advertisements, yet failed to remember the founders of Pakistan on the most significant national occasion.

Earlier, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi in his Independence Day message emphasized justice, fairness, and national unity as the true spirit of the occasion.