RAWALPINDI: President Ayub Khan, addressing a mammoth public meeting at the Race Course grounds here yesterday, said the country was well on the road to progress, but cautioned that he did not visualise a “stand-easy position” for the next 25 or 30 years.

Addressing the public meeting — one of the biggest held in recent years — organised to pay homage to the memory of the Quaid-i-Azam, President Ayub urged the nation to get down to hard and sustained work to help build a sound, stable and progressive society.

If Pakistan was to progress and foundations of a sound and stable society were to be laid here for future, the present and the coming two or three generations would have to work hard and make sacrifices, he said.

He emphasised the need for developing the Islamic way of life suited to modern times. Stressing the point, the president warned that if it was not done “people will desert Islam because centuries old methods cannot keep pace with the fast developments that are taking place as a result of scientific inventions and other changes.”

Reviewing the reforms introduced by his regime, the president described land reforms as a great revolution to bring about equality among people. He said this was essential because no democracy could run without equality.

The president said democracy was in the blood of Muslims, but modern type of democracy could not function here and the people had to carve out their own form of democracy. He was of the view that it is not difficult to develop a form of democracy that may suit Pakistan's needs.

Prayer for rain RAWALPINDI: President Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan yesterday prayed for rains in West Pakistan. Addressing a public meeting at the Race Course grounds here on the birthday anniversary of the Quaid-i-Azam, President Ayub looked towards the overcast sky and said: “There has been no rain in West Pakistan for the last five or six moths. It is a serious thing. God forbid if the drought persists, we would be faced with serious shortage of food grains.” He then invited his audience to join him in his prayer for the rains.