Daily Times

The state is proud to celebrate the National Defence and Martyrs Day with full fervour and enthusiasm every year because it reminds us that our armed forces stand ready at all times to defend our precious freedom and all our liberties. Not all countries have this luxury, so to speak, because either their politics is too fractured, their systems too authoritative or their militaries are simply too weak to protect all the people all the time. Our forces, on the other hand, have proved time and again that they are always ready to answer the call as and when it comes.

These are no doubt very trying times for the government and the military. The shockwaves from Afghanistan have disrupted the security calculus across the region, but Pakistan was ready for it because it had been suffering more than any other country ever since Afghanistan became unstable. It was the launch pad used by Indian and Afghan intelligence services to arm and fund the TTP (Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan) to conduct vicious, deadly attacks inside Pakistani territory. And even though the fight was long and bloody, and took no less than 80,000 innocent Pakistani lives, our forces prevailed upon the enemy, who had no choice but to cut and run and would have been completely wiped out if not for the sanctuary on the other side of the Durand Line.

Once again Indian hostility is at its peak; which was to be expected once the BJP wriggled its way to Delhi and then found ways to entrench itself there. Now its very survival at the top depends on how successfully it can spew venom on Pakistan and keep its own extremist pro-Hindutva support base alive and vibrant at home. That has once again raised the threat of conflict on the border. Things came to a boiling point with the Pulwama incident and its aftermath which figured, among other things, great humiliation for India as the Pakistani air force sent it back with a red nose, downed one of their aircraft, and even returned their captured pilot as a good will gesture that can only be offered from a position of great strength.

Our armed forces are our greatest asset. If not for them we could well have ceased to function as we do considering the many, many forces in this world that are out to do us harm simply because of our elevated position within the Muslim world and the fact that we are a nuclear power. We owe it to our forces to remind everybody, very regularly, that our peace, liberty and freedom are safe because of them and their brave sacrifices. *