With the nation marking September 6, memories of valor and sacrifice return to us. But with them comes a question we have never answered with honesty. When will we give our non-Muslim soldiers the honor they truly deserve? These men shed their blood for Pakistan, yet their names are absent from our textbooks and erased from our national memory. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his government ought to reflect on this silence.
We all recall the battle of Pandu and the martyrdom of Captain Sarwar, the first recipient of Nishan e Haider. But how many of us know whose hands first raised the Pakistani flag on that captured hill. It was Lance Naik Yaqoob Masih. Bullets had torn through his body, yet with his last strength he planted the green crescent on Pandu Top, and then gave his life beneath its shadow. He is a hero of Pakistan. Do we remember him? Do we even teach our children his name?
Pakistan has been defended and enriched by the sacrifices of people of every religion. They are all our heroes.
In 1965, Squadron Leader Peter Christie fought with distinction. When the war of 1971 broke out, he was serving on deputation with PIA. He left the comfort of that assignment and returned to duty. Karachi faced imminent danger. The only way to protect the city was to destroy the Jamnagar airbase. It was a mission of no return. Who would go? Peter Christie stepped forward. He said this was the day he had been waiting for. He never came back. Tell me honestly, how many Pakistanis even know who Peter Christie was.
Wing Commander Marvin Leslie Middlecoat stood guard over Karachi in 1965 as a young flight lieutenant. When Indian aircraft attacked, he shot down two of them and earned from the people the title “Defender of Karachi.” He was decorated twice with Sitara e Jurat. In 1971, again., another attack on Jamnagar had to be carried out. The mission meant near certain death. Middlecoat volunteered even though he had just returned from Jordan. The strike succeeded, but on his way back Indian MiGs intercepted him. A missile found its mark. Pakistan lost another son, and his body was never found.
Middlecoat had also flown with the Arabs against Israel, and King Hussein of Jordan held him in high esteem. The King made a special request: bury him wrapped in the Pakistani flag, but place the Jordanian flag beneath his head as a token of Arab gratitude. Even that last wish could not be fulfilled, because like Peter Christie, his remains never came home.
Think too of Second Lieutenant Danial. When East Pakistan was slipping into chaos, he volunteered to go. On the morning of December 13, after returning from a mission, he was eating breakfast when news arrived that a platoon of 31 Punjab was under attack. He left his meal and rushed to rescue his comrades. His chest was torn open by enemy fire. As doctors pulled bullets from his body, he whispered: these are not bullets, these are souvenirs, please send them to my mother. Then he too embraced martyrdom. Who remembers him today?
Captain Michael Wilson fell in Chamb in 1971. Even in his dying moments, he worried not about himself but about the fate of his country. There are others whose services we cannot forget. Cecil Chaudhry, decorated with Sitara e Jurat, Tamgha e Jurat, and the Presidential Pride of Performance. Major General Eric G Hall, Vice Chief of Air Staff, who stunned his colleagues in 1965 by proposing that Pakistan’s C130 transport aircraft be used as bombers. He flew one himself and carried out the mission successfully, winning Hilal e Jurat, Sitara e Jurat, and Hilal e Imtiaz. And then there was Wing Commander W?adys?aw Józef Turowicz of Poland. He came in 1948 to train our fledgling air force and chose to stay as a Pakistani. He gave this country his life’s work and was honored with Sitara e Pakistan, Tamgha e Pakistan, Sitara e Khidmat, Sitara e Quaid e Azam, Sitara e Imtiaz, and more.
These are only the stories of one faith community. The truth is that Pakistan has been defended and enriched by the sacrifices of people of every religion. They are all our heroes. Yet we are letting their memory fade. Why. What does it say about us as a nation that Peter Christie and Middlecoat do not appear in our Pakistan Studies textbooks? How can the story of Pakistan ever be complete without them?
This is a question not just for scholars but for the Prime Minister, his cabinet, and the parliament. If we cannot honor those who gave their lives for us, what kind of nation do we become?
The writer is a lawyer and author based in Islamabad. He tweets @m_asifmahmood