Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Arshad Nazir Chisthi said that September 6 was a historic day which reminds us the great spirit of army Jawans for national defence.
During an exclusive meeting with APP, he said that the September 6 war was a precedent of bravery of Pak military and its stories are vivid and inspiring for the coming generations.
Sharing his memories, Chishti said that on 6th September 1965 he was doing “Cobra Missile Course” at Wah Factory while his platoon 13-FF was fighting against the Indian army with great courage and brave at Chawinda, Zafarwal, Narowal and Sialkot borders.
He said that his senior Captain Naseer Ahmad Khan, who later became a Major General, and Captain Basit Ahmad Raja were also with him when he started the journey from Wah Factory to Sialkot after listening to the speech of President Ayub Khan on September 6, 1965.
“In Pindi, we came to know that Pakistan Air Force will attack with its full strength on Monday evening, i.e. on September 6. We boarded a bus and were about to reach Jhelum when we got the bus stopped to listen to the news”.
“The news came, it was Radio Pakistan. Now, listen to the news from Shakeel Ahmed. The fighter bombers of Pakistan Air Force attacked the Indian airports including Srinagar, Jamnagar, Adampur, Halwara and Pathankot bases. The Pakistani fighters destroyed 9 Russian-made MiG-21 planes of Indian”.
After hearing this news, we and all passengers of the bus shouted ” Nara-i-akbeer”. The people became very excited to see three military officers amid them who were heading towards their platoon to fight against Indian forces, he added. Chishti said that the people showed much affection for teh Pak army and “we reached Sialkot on the morning of 7th September where a jeep had already arrived for us from Zafarwal.”
He said that Captain Basit Ahmed Raja was sent back to Pindi to bring Cobra missiles from the depot so that it could be use in the war and “we went to Narowal from Sialkot in the evening along with army driver Fazal Dad. At that time, the battle front was very hot.”
On the morning of September 6, the India had attacked in Lahore and Narowal but these attacks were repulsed.