Celebrating Pak Army Martyrs Day

Tariq Rizwan

Pakistan Army sacrifices in the war on terror are colossal. Each year, April 30th is celebrated as Youm-e-Shuhada (Martyrs Day) in Pakistan to remember our valiant soldiers who lost their lives for the safety and security of the country and its people. Pakistan Army commemorates on and the whole nation joins to pay tribute to the departed souls. Ceremonies are being held across the country with main ceremony, being held at Yadqar-e-Shuhada, General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi. The families and relatives of the martyrs (Shuhada), serving and retired officers including people, belonging to various segments of society attend the function to pay tribute to our national heroes.

In the wake of operation Zarb - e - Azb, Pakistan Army remained engaged in the most difficult terrain of North Waziristan including valley Shawal Valley in fight with the terrorists. This time the enemy is quite different, using all kinds of sabotage and subversive activities. In these terms, Pakistan is in the state of unconventional war. Our brave Army has successfully achieved their objectives by clearing almost every inch of FATA from the terrorists who had challenged the writ of the state, and had terrorized the entire nation by their heinous crimes. Pakistan has perennially been facing subversive activities and sectarian violence in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi and other parts of the country including tribal areas where security forces are coping with the militants.

Pakistan Army has accepted all kinds of responsibilities wholeheartedly whether it is peace keeping mission of UN, Operation Zarb - e - Azb, restoring peace in Balochistan, assisting the flood & earthquakes’ victims or operation against dacoits in Rajhanpur. On eastern border, Pak Army and Rangers have boldly been responding to India’s unprovoked firing at the Line of Control in Kashmir and Working Boundary in Sialkot. Besides, Pakistan’s security forces have also faced cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan side, encountering heavily-armed militants who from time to time, targeted Army’s check posts, and other civil and military installations.

Since 2007, more than 140,000 armed forces personnel had been deployed along the Afghan border. In the ongoing war on terrorism the armed forces have so far lost the equivalent of two full brigades. Among those killed were one three-star and a couple of two-star generals. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) alone had lost 63 personnel in various incidents, including attacks on its major stations.

Pakistan has suffered severe losses during the last decade due to war on terror. According to open sources, about 60,000 casualties including 6370 soldiers, 20877 innocent civilians and 32447 terrorists have been reported while 28, 561 people have sustained injuries in various blasts across the country. As per rough estimates, our economy has suffered $ 80 billion so far. These figures were presented in the National Assembly on Friday, 15 April, 2016 by the Parliamentary Secretary in Ministry of Interior, Maryam Aurangzeb. She added that extremist groups have been active throughout the country with their own ideologies during the last 10 years. She upheld several policy steps have been taken for controlling and improving the law and order situation in the country. “The government has prepared a new policy for strengthening internal security and to improve law and order.”

Preparations are underway to celebrate the day in the Federal Capital and provincial headquarters with great zeal and fervor. Young generation has great love and craze for our Army.

The writer is a freelance journalist, based in London.