- The terrorists could not have been beaten without the military
“There are things known, and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception,” said Aldous Huxley, an English writer, and a philosopher in his book The Doors of Perception, which had hit me up with scores of questions linked to real-life incidents happening around us, and which had convulsed my mind for a while. A phone beside me screamed to bring me back to a state of consciousness to answer it to know who had disturbed me, but it was the wavery undertone voice of a book publisher. He once in a week, makes a call to ask whether I would be interested in some new books out in the market. He continued letting me know of the book’s titles, and their renowned authors that are of my interest, but among all was a book of a distinct title Beautiful Colors of a Resilient Nation that struck my attention. To my inquisitive nature, I asked him further about it, and the author, Danish Javed, who seemed relatively a new name in the Pakistani authors list we know so far.
Going through each chapter of the book revealed me a heroic story of our warriors of Pakistan Army, but also others, civilians, who have had sacrificed their lives for a greater cause in their respective fields. Whilst I continued to read the tale of stories and incidents that were never revealed to us by the media for some reason. And we, in our sheer ignorance remained unbothered about the heart-wrenching facts which would give us an insight into the unknown lives of warriors of Pakistan Army, who lost their lives fighting at the forefront, and facing off other calamities hitting our region, since the Quaid-e-Azam got us independence from India in 1947. Reading between the lines on Pakistan’s tumultuous journey of fighting three wars with India, and then down the years of simmering border tensions resulting in military skirmishes on the frontiers. The later tragic experience of combating and mopping up terrorism within the country could only be done due to the tireless efforts of the armed forces, along with many unsung civilians, whose unwavering support, and sacrificed lives have made me a prouder citizen of a country known as a resilient nation across the globe.
For a long time, critics are busy running after the lost cause of demeaning the services rendered by our armed institution, which comes forward to offset the largescale damage caused by catastrophes from earthquakes in the year 2005 to floods in Sindh, and now the coronavirus pandemic gripping the country, but the list goes on. International media, and media from the hostile neighbors aren’t happy with Pakistan Army, which has been asked by the government to have their main support to support the government in running the country smoothly. Moreover, at the provincial levels, district administration folks sitting in their spacious offices, though visiting fields as well- for whom we have an equal respect, have begun spamming twitter with photos of them performing their duties. And additionally, trying to make the analogy between their salary structures, and proposed budget with that of armed forces. This new debate on social media and requesting writers to initiate a discourse on so-called discrimination done with the civil service members is quite trending these days, but through personal messages only.
I’ve failed to understand that why aren’t we done with propaganda against a few institutions, which are the only ones left working transparently, and that too with some professional responsibility. The current crisis has pierced the veil of ministries, and officials who had falsely raised our hopes with their performance in the pre-coronavirus days are now making excuses for not continuing to perform well. Since the outbreak, the situation is quite self-explanatory of their failed strategies to confront the crisis, and have raised questions on their transparency, as well as the hefty embezzlement in developments funds at the provincial level, is much talked about these days, which is why the provincial governments and their departments are falling short of funds, and asking the federal government to allocate more on the pretext of combatting the coronavirus.
At such critical times, when the government is at a standstill, and running in the state of chaos amid the outbreak, the armed forces have stepped forward to prevent crisis further deteriorating the situation, through their senior officials, and other associated institutions of Pakistan army, who are out to serve this nation, not for a base salary of a few thousand rupees to give up their lives, and future, but for their commitment, and with the spirit to save millions of precious lives by compromising their own in the line of their duty
At such critical times, when the government is at a standstill, and running in the state of chaos amid the outbreak, the armed forces have stepped forward to prevent crisis further deteriorating the situation, through their senior officials, and other associated institutions of Pakistan army, who are out to serve this nation, not for a base salary of a few thousand rupees to give up their lives, and future, but for their commitment, and with the spirit to save millions of precious lives by compromising their own in the line of their duty. This what makes me recall Abraham Lincoln’s quote “Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality.” I salute, every member of the Pakistan Army, be it a soldier who is standing at the world’s deadliest border, Line of Control (LOC), and the families of the martyred army officials, who lost their lives in the hope of saving us, and our future generations.
