Qamar Rafiq
WE must never forget why we have and why we need an army? Truth to tell, army exists only to ensure the nation is safe so that every one of us can sleep soundly under the blanket of very freedom at night, knowing we have guardians at the gate. The Pak Army is the principal land warfare branch of the Pakistan defence forces which is powerful fighting force defending and serving the nation 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Whatever it costs, the brave soldiers of the Pak Army put their lives every day at risk to safeguard the freedom that we enjoy. Serve to lead; the ethos of servant leadership is a golden thread which runs through the blood of the Pak army. Our defence forces deserve utmost respect and gratitude to keep intact the sovereignty of the motherland. Highly regarded in the world, Pak Army is a landscape of the national pride for its saga of dedication, deliverance and defence. In a recent falsifying version of events in political quarters to gain power, there is a serious, need to explore a truth to understand the role of Pak Army to build Pakistan. So, tell me, have you ever paused for a moment to ponder the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed and the degree of pain endured by our soldiers and their families? My father always says freedom comes at a price.
Therefore, it is particularly important to highlight the sacrifices of our fallen soldiers and their families. Our nation owes a debt to the heroes of our Army that we can never pay fully. Pak Army has always celebrated its heritage through valour and endless reverence to learn lessons from the past to improve its capability to sever the nation. In recent years, the military troops have deployed to simultaneously combat a vicious internal insurgency and suppress international terrorist groups which proves the competence of our forces.
The specialist capabilities of Pakistan Army are disciplined manpower, disaster management, strategic and intelligence strength, organisational ability to counter-terrorism, research and development, and border management with a vast experience of war on terror. Pak Army leadership has proven that it has the vision to navigate through hard-hitting times and yield decisions to protect the country against external hostility or the threat of war. Despite economic challenges, Pak Army has been engaged to advance nuclear weapons capability, communication systems, integrated air defences, mobility capabilities for conventional forces and long-range precision munition. As a result, Pakistan Army now has a global diplomatic footprint that is emerging into a multi-faceted power which includes defence diplomacy, conflict resolution and defence cooperation. In the face of widespread geopolitical uncertainty and the war on terror, Pakistan military dedication to reform foreign and security policies mainly to scale down the confrontations has been recognized worldwide. Nevertheless, Pak Army’s extraordinary role in the ongoing (Afghan) peace process could not have succeeded without earnest and unconditional support of Pak Army. Therefore, Pakistan’s military leadership takes full credit for persuading the Taliban to negotiate and sign a landmark agreement with the US.
Pak Army, at a glance, has been involved in building a large amount of the country’s infrastructure such as dams, bridges, roads, power stations, energy projects, especially the exceptional services of Pak Army in CPEC are no longer strangers to anyone. For decades, the it has been repeatedly called upon for domestic and international emergencies. Even so, Pak Army delivered timely responses during the call of their duty especially in devastating floods, deadly earthquake, and land-sliding incidents.
Moreover, Pak Army has quite often been called in by civilian regimes to restore law and order and also to ensure public safety and security during the country’s elections or polio vaccination. Pak Army is a cornerstone of robust defence and it has undertaken several successful operations like Operation Rah-e-Haq (Swat), Operation Sherdil (Bajaur), Operation Zalzala (Spinkai) and Operation Rah-e-Nijat (SWA) and Operation Zarb-e-Azb. On the defence lines, Pakistan has always desired stability and peace with all its neighbouring countries and in the region. In a series of wars with India, Pak army has been the first line of defence to protect the sovereignty of the land. Our fearless defence force knee-down and devastated the enemy’s plan with their resilience.
Pak Army is one of the largest contributors in UN peacekeeping operations. On the Middle Eastern front, has up-scaled ties with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Besides, it is also giving full support to safeguard Saudi sovereignty, Pakistan also committed to aiding Qatar by providing the all-important security for the 2022 Football World Cup, which Qatar will be hosting. More than anything, Pakistan Army, security and law enforcement agencies have rendered matchless sacrifices in the war against terrorism. We must stop seeing through a political lens, to discover the sacrifices of those who go selflessly into the core of battle and risk their lives to save our freedom. Unmasked faces of our political elites tell me, we need leaders, not celebrity politicians. As night sleeps and stretches to morning, our politicians wake up with monstrous egos and flinched hearts. Instead of flinging blame and criticism from their chatterboxes, the players of political circus need to look at their sequential failure has tarnished the society. Unfortunately, the political cannibalism has already consumed the public necessity in the form of a failed social system which is outrageously reckless and irresponsible. We have not seen and probably will never know the truth, of the sacrifice of our defence forces and their families. As a civilian, I owe an unpayable debt to Pak Army, do you?
—The writer is freelance columnist based in UK.