Daily Times

It has become a fashion these days to criticise the Pak Army for no reason. I’ll request all those to have a look at the life and journey of a soldier of the Pak Army. It is the era of the fifth generation war and it is really easy to criticise the army by using the platforms of social media. All those critics and haters should spare a few minutes to study the journey of a soldier. He bravely passes through the hardships of training and performs duties hundreds of miles away from the comfort of family and home. He is alert 24/7 at the borders just to ensure our comfort in our houses. He is standing firmly in front of the enemy and therefore Pakistan is safe today. After performing all these duties diligently, a soldier never demands an increase in his salary. He never goes on strike in order to get his demands fulfilled. A soldier never complains of workload throughout his life. Therefore, it is the duty of every Pakistani to acknowledge the services of our brave soldiers who are our defenders. As responsible citizens, we must highlight the stories of their bravery instead of criticising them for no reason. They will be more than happy to see the entire nation standing behind them firmly. It is an established fact that no one can defeat you when your military has the strong backing of the whole nation.

It is a reality that martyrdom is the ultimate goal of a soldier. To sacrifice his life in defending this motherland is his basic purpose throughout his career. Unfortunately, some haters who speak the language of the enemy say that the soldiers fight only to get money. The whole of Pakistan will be at borders if it is so easy to give your life in return for getting some money. It is the blessing of Allah Almighty that He selects a very few people for this noble cause of rendering their lives while defending the motherland. Having strong faith in Allah Almighty and Jihad are the basic hallmarks of the Pak Army. Undoubtedly, Pak Army is the defender of both the geographical and ideological boundaries of this country.

Wars are not fought on the basis of weapons and numerical strength.

Pakistan is very lucky that it has the world’s most brave and hardworking army which also enjoys the complete confidence of its people. The level of confidence is so much high that we sleep smoothly in our cosy bedrooms with the firm belief that our soldiers are standing alert at the borders in chilling weather. These brave soldiers don’t shy about sacrificing their lives to protect the motherland because it is their ultimate goal to get the medal of martyrdom. Martyrdom is a great award and only those people achieve it who have firm beliefs in the Almighty. That is the very reason that Allah has already announced many rewards for a martyr. There are many verses in both the Quran and Sunnah which describe the stature of a martyr in Islam. These martyrs are the pride of a nation and Pakistan is strengthened today both geographically and ideologically just because of these martyrs. It is the spirit of martyrdom which is common in the Pak Army as both the soldiers and officers are always ready to brace it bravely. The baseless propaganda of haters and enemy forces cannot dent this spirit of martyrdom. They don’t go to the battlefield for the sake of money as propagated by the enemy forces. They go there to become Ghazi or Shaheed just because of this very spirit of martyrdom. The parents feel proud when they receive the coffin of their son wrapped in the national flag. It is this very spirit of martyrdom which keeps them going into the battlefields. One can rightly imagine the status of a martyr that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) wished this very martyrdom for himself.

I have earlier discussed in my previous columns that wars are not fought on the basis of weapons and numerical strength. It is the spirit of martyrdom that is the key weapon of a soldier when he goes into the warzone. How can we forget the war of 1965? It is still fresh in our memories that the enemy launched an attack on Pakistan in the darkness of night. The enemy was far huge in numbers, but it was the spirit of martyrdom that we outnumbered India with bravery. The whole world witnessed the courage of our soldiers when the enemy had attacked us at the Sialkot border in the 1965 war. Our soldiers threw themselves in front of the tanks and the enemy had to taste that embarrassing defeat. It all happened just because of the spirit of martyrdom that every soldier of the Pak Army has in his heart. Pakistan is facing another wave of terrorism these days, but there is nothing to worry about: our brave soldiers are on the battlefields to ensure peace for future generations.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.