Pakistan’s Armed Forces have Infinite Morale to Defend a Divided Nation

Author: Qamar Rafiq
Armed forces are the true nobility of our country and a nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten and lost. Whatever it costs, our brave soldiers put their lives every day at risk to safeguard the nation’s freedom.
They exist only to ensure the nation is safe so that every one of us can sleep soundly under the blanket of safety at night, knowing we have guardians at the gate. It is true the ethos of dedication, defence and deliverance are golden threads that run through the blood of our soldiers.
Our armed forces are worthy of respect; hence, we are bound to show respect not only for their sacrifices but also for a long history of defending a nation which is fractured by cultural wars, economic upheaval, and monstrous egos.
Too much politics in the state but struggling to articulate a defining vision for the country. Yet Pakistan’s armed forces’ infinite morale to defend national sovereignty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year is notable.
Khan, once a symbol of openness and modernity, has made a career out of vague, eye-popping speeches to malign armed forces.
The last few weeks have robbed us of our peace of mind after the military establishment has come under the Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaaf (PTI) criticism. Trends against the armed forces and its leadership have seen intense activity on Twitter and Facebook which have become a feeble joke in a customised age of political fiction.
As a result of, Imran Khan’s ouster through a successful vote of no-confidence, many accounts were set up to use social media to disseminate and amplify that gaudy lie of US conspiracy in the regime change. But the military establishment has repeatedly dismissed Imran Khan’s bizarre claims that the US conspired to his removal.
Khan, once a symbol of openness and modernity, has made a career out of vague, eye-popping speeches to malign armed forces and state institutions for playing a role in regime change. Meanwhile, the PTI’s moral collapse has uncaged the naked attempts not only to test armed forces patience but also the nation’s patience. Such attempts are manifested through direct, insinuated, or nuanced references to armed forces as a part of the organised propaganda campaign. It is a ruthless strategy which will leave scars on the soul of Pakistan and every scar has a story to tell.
In a country that often feels weighed down by the past and gloomy about its prospects; such misleading accounts about the integrity of the military establishment and other institutions will only fracture the nation beyond repair. If we don’t stop this now, it will be hard to avoid the consequence of crossing a Rubicon from which it will be difficult to return.
Nevertheless, our armed forces deserve utmost respect and gratitude to keep the sovereignty of the motherland intact. Highly regarded in the world, the PAK army is a landscape of national pride ad unity.
So, tell me, have you ever paused for a moment to contemplate the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed, and the degree of pain endured by soldiers and their families? Precisely, we are indebted to the sacrifices of our soldiers and their families that we can never be paid off.
Perhaps, we have not seen and probably will never know the truth of the sacrifice.
They were sons, fathers, brothers, and husbands who sacrificed their present to protect our tomorrow. As a civilian, I owe an unpayable debt to the families of our soldiers left behind, do you?
Over the last seven decades, our forces have remained the most disciplined, and responsive institution. Despite challenges on many fronts, our armed forces have been engaged to advance nuclear weapons capability, communication systems, integrated air defences, mobility capabilities for conventional forces and long-range precision munitions.
As a result, the Pakistan Army now has a global diplomatic footprint that is emerging into a multi-faceted power which includes defence diplomacy, conflict resolution and defence cooperation. PAK Army is one of the largest contributors to UN Peacekeeping forces.
On the Middle Eastern front, the PAK army has up-scaled ties with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. More than anything, Pakistan Army, Security, and law enforcement agencies have rendered matchless sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
Successful operations like Operation Rah-e-Haq (Swat), Operation Sherdil (Bajaur), Operation Zalzala (Spinkai) and Operation Rah-e-Nijat (SWA) and Operation Zarb-e-Azb, remind us of a selfless act of valour that is done without asking anything in return.
We need more optimism to feel our forces have proven, that they have the vision to navigate through hard-hitting times and yield decisions to protect the country against external hostility, conspiracy, or the threat of war. For example, the specialist capabilities of the Pakistan army are disciplined manpower, disaster management, strategic and intelligence strength, organisational ability to counter-terrorism, research, and development, and have always facilitated civilian regimes to restore law and order and also to ensure public safety and security during the country’s elections or polio vaccination.
Unfortunately, prevalent sore political discourse has consumed the public necessity, what is left behind is more lethal. Everyone knows the PTI rose on promises of a glorious future, but it has not succeeded to change its voters’ fate. Now all they have left is a painful past, present and future. The PTI’s blatant drive of maligning security institutions, disparaging the judiciary and delaying parliamentary proceedings is a constitutional butchery that will sever the sacred vessel of democracy.

We need leaders, not celebrity politicians. Maybe for too long Khan has enjoyed the bespoke luxury of knowing everything for instance democratic systems, Western cultures, international relations, and economic and social systems of EU countries. Therefore, 229 million Pakistani are bound to listen to him. The question is, does he ever listen to himself?

The writer is based in UK, and has specialization in health informatics from Johns Hopkins University.

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