INDEPENDENCE MOMENT

Lahore played a special role in the independence movements of both India and Pakistan. The 1929 Indian National congress session was held at Lahore. In this Congress, the Declaration of was moved by pandit Nehru passed unanimously On this occasion, the contemporary tricolour of india its centre) was hoisted for the first time as a national flag, and thousands of people saluted it.
Lahore's prison was used by the British to detain revolutionary freedom fighters. Noted freedom fighter Jatin Das died in Lahore's prison after fasting for 63 days in protest of British treatment of political prisoners. One of the greatest martyrs in the history of Indian independence,shaheed sardar Bhaghat Singh was hanged here.

Upon the independence of Pakistan, Lahore was made capital of the Punjab province in the new state of Pakistan. Almost immediately, large scale riots broke out among Muslims . Less than 20 years later, however, Lahore once again became a battleground in the War of 1965. The battlefield and trenches can still be observed today close to the Wahga border area.
After independence, Lahore lost much of its glory to Karachi which quickly became the biggest and most industrialised city. It was not until the rule of the Mian brothers, and the MQM riots in of the 1990s, that Lahore once again gained its significance as an economic and cultural powerhouse through government reforms.