As Pakistan celebrated Independence Day, the country's newspapers gave a downbeat assessment of the state of the nation.

Editorials voiced concerns and doubts over economic issues, the upsurge in extremist violence, and the elections due in October.

Independent daily The Nation contrasted the "magnificent vision" of the nation's founding fathers 55 years ago with the present reality.

"In a host of matters, we are perhaps no different, certainly no better, since the days of our bondage."

We have not had the good fortune of having leaders whose prime concern was the welfare of the people

The Nation

"The basic prerequisites of a decent living, including literacy, health care, opportunities for employment and upward social mobility, are woefully lacking," the paper said

"An unbelievably large chunk of our population, 35%, has fallen below the poverty line, and the slide accelerates with time," it said.

"Whatever else might have been responsible for this state of affairs, one thing is certain -that we have not had the good fortune of having leaders whose prime concern was the welfare of the people. That tragic flaw seems not to have left us as yet."

The paper saw the nation "fumbling" in the wake of the events of September 11th "except for our wholehearted acquiescence in US-conducted campaign against the so-called international terrorism, though the dream of its reward has already turned sour."

Paying the price

The country's most widely-read English-language daily Dawn said that the recent upsurge in terrorist attacks inside Pakistan "is the price Pakistan is paying for its otherwise correct decision to join the world coalition" in Afghanistan.

"Terrorism is now Pakistan's biggest problem and without rooting it out, Islamabad cannot hope to attract foreign investment and sustain economic growth," the paper said.

One hopes the government will not disappoint the world and its own people by staging a farce.

Dawn

At the same time it wondered whether general elections due in October would be fair, given that recent controversial proposals to change the constitution appeared to be aimed at strengthening president Musharraf's grip on power.

"One hopes the government will not disappoint the world and its own people by staging a farce. Let all concerned realize that Pakistan has no other destiny except as a liberal democracy as visualized by its founder, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah."

Back to barracks?

The large-circulation Urdu daily Nawa-I-Waqt saw the country celebrating Independence Day at a "very critical" time in its history.

Present military rulers should hand over powers to a representative government

Nawa-I-Waqt daily

"It is not only confronted with external threats, but there is also a plethora of internal problems, the most important being the absence of a democratic set-up."

"Present military rulers should hand over powers to a representative government and military should go the barracks and should give attention to the challenge of millions of Indian forces at the Line of Control," it said.

The daily Khabrain reminded its readers that the country was created in the name of Islam, "but unfortunately, we have forgotten this basic principle."

"Due to these deviations from basic objective, today Pakistan is one of the poorest countries in the world," it said.

"We are so helpless that our financial policies are framed on the directive of international monetary organisations... We are member of the elite club of atomic powers and have a strong army for our defence, but our failures outnumber our successes."

Uncertain future

National daily Subh meanwhile noted that since independence, Pakistan has been "in the lap of military for more than half of its life."

"However, not only military leadership but Pakistani politicians are equally responsible for the dismal state of affairs... Principles and standards have never been applied in the game of politics. Corruption has always been a big hallmark of our ruling elites," it said.

"Everyone blames each other but no-one assumes responsibility. Due to these reasons, democracy is not flourishing in Pakistan and still its future seems bleak and uncertain," the paper concluded.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.