Daily Times

Repulsing the attackers more than four times bigger and stronger, successfully retrieving 450 kilometers of land they had entered into unprovoked and pushing them back deep into 1600 kilometers of their territories all through close and exemplary coordination among Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy during 17-day Pakistan-India war in September 1965 was no mean feat that could ever be forgotten by the people of the country.

The unity of action as well as purpose demonstrated by the Pakistanis, without any distinction, is another aspect of the history created 56 years ago and rightfully cherished by the nation celebrating the occasion on September 6 every year with an opportunity to go for an introspection with regard to the strengths that may further be stabilized and weaknesses that could be addressed through degree of pragmaticism and sincerity. “Peace Time Role of Armed Forces” is an approach adopted over the years with particular focus on facilitating educational provisions for the youth belonging to the most backward areas across the country besides healthcare for the people in general settled in the remote parts. This is besides compliance to their responsibilities towards the nation during emergency be it natural calamities or man made disasters. “We need to appreciate efforts made over the years accommodating youth belonging to neglected areas at different cadet colleges and providing them free of cost education, boarding and lodging,” said Prof Dr. Talat Aisha Wizarat, a senior academician and researcher emphasizing that the responsibilities to defend the national boundaries had never been compromised with equal attention to be updated and modernized.

Former Chairperson of Department of International Relations and faculty member of Institute of Business Management, said the role of armed forces in the development sector is equally important in context of national defense as it has emerged to be crucial in strengthening national integrity, critical for sound national defense mechanisms. “These children of ours are being duly groomed as capable and competent citizens with strong sense of patriotism that could be an asset for any nation and country,” she said, reminding that the unprecedented spirit reflected by the young nation 56 years ago is being revived on strong lines.

To a query, Prof Dr. Talat Aisha, daughter of a Pakistani soldier representing army medical corps and wife of an engineer who served the engineering corpse for quite a long, said the soldiers of the country had been rendering sacrifices in line of their duties with utmost dedication and it was impossible to forget these heroes who defend the country at its borders or fight the war against the terrorists.