Armed Forces of Pakistan
A Symbol of Selfless Devotion to the
Nation and Humanity
By Farooq-uz-Zaman
Since Independence, the Pakistan Army
has been selflessly at the beck and call of the nation in every moment of trial
and ordeal. It always responded to any calamity, natural or
man-made, to help not only the fellow Pakistanis in distress but the humanity
worldwide. Whether it was the October 2005 massive earthquake that caused havoc
and devastation in Kashmir and Northern Areas of Pakistan, the 2004 Tsunami in
the Far East, the floods in Turkey or cyclone in Bangladesh, the Pakistan Army
responded with all its strength and missionary zeal to aid the mankind.
Ever Since its inception, the Army has
been on job, first during the 1947 Partition when the barbaric Sikh and Hindu
hordes set upon the refugee caravans of thousands of Muslims migrating to
Pakistan. The mass exodus of Muslims of the subcontinent from India was ravaged
and attacked by the fanatics thus necessitating the Pakistan Army being pressed
into the service of protecting the refugee caravans. Immediately after the
Independence, the Pakistan Army, devoid of weapons and arms, faced the Indian
onslaught and fought bravely against them in Kashmir.
In September 1965, the Indian forces
sneaked into the international border and attacked Pakistan. The entire nation
stood like a rock behind the army and fought back India. The enthusiasm and
spirit of the people and their Armed Forces in the 1965 War proved to be
Pakistan’s finest hour. Pakistan’s valiant sons stood united as one solid
edifice to defend their motherland.
Pakistan Army has come a long way from
its modest beginning. The story of the evolution of the Armed Forces is the
story of the birth of Pakistan itself against heavy odds. Post partition
the military assets of British India were unjustly divided between Pakistan and
India. Unfortunately, the Indian spitefulness resulted in Pakistan receiving
only a fraction of its original share and that too in a dilapidated state.
The road to development, self reliance
and indigenization has enabled Pakistan to develop its own missiles, tanks,
armoured personnel carriers, submarines, ships and aircraft. Pakistan’s missile
programme is indigenous and has a wide array of weapon systems in its missile
arsenal, which range from the short-range Hatf to the medium-range Abdali,
Ghaznavi and Shaheen and the long-range Ghauri and Shaheen-II; Pakistan has
successfully tested its indigenous Cruise Missile Babur, which can be launched
from ground, air and sea platforms including submarines.
In May 1998, India carried out its
second nuclear tests at Pokhran after the first in 1974, and became highly
belligerent. Its saber-rattling forced Pakistan to come out of the nuclear
closet and conduct tests of its own, declaring to the world that it possessed
nuclear weapons for its defence and deterrence of war-mongers but it harbours
no aggressive designs against any one.
Pakistan’s defence capability both in
production and acquisition has come of an age. The Pakistan Ordnance Factory,
which was established in 1951, at Wah, near Rawalpindi, to produce small arms,
ammunition, and explosives was modernized and expanded to meet the challenges
of modern armed forces. Heavy Mechanical Complex at Taxila, an arms rebuilding
factory, is a name to be reckoned with. Heavy Industries Taxila provides
facilities for overhaul, rebuild and progressive manufacture of Main Battle
Tanks, Armoured Recovery Vehicles, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), guns and
production of MBT-2000
Al-Khalid, and Al-Zarrar Tanks. In addition it has the capability to
rebuild, upgrade and modernize Armoured Vehicles of both Eastern and Western
origin.
Since 1984 Pakistan Army is maintaining
a military presence at Siachen. In the last 29 years, over one thousand
Pakistani soldiers have laid down their lives at Siachen while defending the
motherland.
As an aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Pakistan reluctantly joined the
US-led war on terror. The prolonged occupation of Pakistan’s western neighbour
and the role played by its armed forces brought the wrath of al-Qaeda and
Taliban upon Pakistan. They not only brought terrorism on the doorsteps of
Pakistanis but exposed its armed forces and security agencies to heinous
attacks by suicide bombers. To-date over 50,000 Pakistanis have become a
casualty, either embraced Shahadat or got severely injured as a result of the
terror attacks, 19,000 of them belong to the Security Forces.
The terror mongers occupied the valley
of Swat and were threatening to attack Islamabad. Pakistan Army launched
Operations Rah-e-Rast and Rah-e-Nijat and
cleared Swat and South Waziristan from the terrorists. Once again, it was the
Pakistan Army that not only fought the miscreants of al-Qaeda and Taliban but
also came to the aid of the displaced persons, forced to flee their homes.
Pakistan Army won laurels in the
service of the nation. After the successful operation in Swat the exodus of the
displaced persons (IDPs) of Swat and Malakand was a mass movement of humans but
it goes to the credit of the army as well as the government that their ordeal
did not last long.
Since 1960, the Pakistan Army has been
actively participating in the UN multinational efforts to maintain peace and
order around the globe. Its contribution to the UN peacekeeping missions has
been as wide-ranging as the varied cultural, geographic, political and security
conditions in which it had to operate. Congo, West Iran, Somalia,
New Guinea, Cambodia, East Timor, Slovenia, Haiti, Bosnia, Sierra Leone,
Liberia, Ivory Coast, Kuwait and Yemen are to name just a few. The humble
contribution it has made in this regard bespeaks its desire to see the
principles of human dignity, freedom and self-determination applied to all the
peoples who are struggling to secure their inalienable basic rights.
From providing infrastructure for
sports facilities to facilitating and organizing participants and sponsors, the
contribution of the Army in the field of sports and towards bringing glory to
Pakistan in national and international events is unparalleled.
The Army has played a major role in
improving the socio-economic conditions of the tribal belt as well as
Balochistan, and has uplifted them through a sustained focus on its human
resource development, education, health, and communication infrastructure and
poverty reduction.
The Karakoram Highway is a clear
example of a daring feat of construction in one of the most treacherous
terrains of the world. Restructuring of the Sukkur Barrage was a
challenging task, which the engineers of Pakistan Army successfully
accomplished.
Pakistan Army has never demurred from
lending a helping hand whenever asked to do so. It has performed multifarious
tasks in the aid of civil power, whenever the occasion arose, whether it was
duties during census or elections, anti-dacoit actions, tracking ghost schools
or wapda recoveries, medical aid or evacuation of flood, fire or train accident
victims, and so on. Its Cantonments provide sanctity and security along with
job opportunities and basic amenities like education, medical and sports
facilities to local civilians residing in the vicinity.
Army affiliated organizations like SCO,
FWO and NLC play a major role in providing logistics and laying the
communication infrastructure in the most demanding of terrains.
During the last sixty-six years,
Pakistan army has evolved into a highly motivated, modern and professional
force defending the ideological and geographical frontiers of Pakistan.
Equipped with state-of-the-art weapon systems, organized under sound structures
and supported by battle-tested doctrines, it stands alert to serve Pakistan,
both in peace, and war, to deter and combat any enemy, within and without,
never being reluctant even to make the supreme sacrifice of their lives.
During the last six and a half decades
of Pakistan’s existence, the defenders of Pakistan have withstood multifarious
challenges and tests of time. Backed by the people of Pakistan, its Army always
rose to the occasion, be it guarding the frontiers in war, protecting the lives
of people in various calamities, rendering services for nation building,
purging the society of the menace of extremism and terrorism or service to
humanity in various UN missions. The Pakistan Army makes the nation proud of
its service with honour, dignity, dedication and commitment.
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