And peaceful co-existence
Cynicism is a state of mind when all the mental faculties to distinguish between good and bad are obscured and the person suffering from it exhibits an irresistible propensity to invariably focus his attention on dark side of everything. There is no dearth of such people within our intelligentsia and academics. While the nation is celebrating 50th anniversary of the 1965 war about which almost the entire media, historians, intellectuals, the nation and the armed forces have a unanimous view that it was the best moment in our history which justifiably needed to be celebrated and has been celebrated with great enthusiasm like all the proud nations, there are individuals who feel that history has been distorted to create a victory myth. As reported by a national English daily one Dr Akbar S Zaidi who teaches history at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, speaking to an audience at the Karachi University on 5th of September with reference to the 1965 war, said, “There can be no bigger lie, Pakistan lost terribly.” That is what I would like to describe as ‘sheer cynicism’.
Nations all over the world mix myth with reality in case of wars that they have had to fight and pay tribute to their heroes with a view to reinvigorate the national spirit and sense of patriotism which is an essential ingredient for boosting the moral of the nation and readying it to face any emerging eventuality with courage in the best traditions of their heroes. In case of 1965 war between Pakistan and India, both the countries made conflicting claims about losses inflicted on each other. However, the account given by some independent sources corroborates the Pakistani version.
When India launched full-fledged attack against Pakistan on 6th of September and crossed the international borders — after its army suffered incessant setbacks in the fight in Jammu and Kashmir — with an avowed aim of capturing Lahore, it met with unprecedented resistance by the Pakistan Army. The Indian forces could not go beyond BRB Canal despite having superiority in military might and military hardware at its disposal. Their repeated assaults were beaten back and for the rest of the duration of war they were forced to back-off, thanks to the unrivalled bravery of Major Aziz Bhatti Shaheed, Nishan-e-Haider, and the men under his command. Pakistan Army not only defended Lahore but also launched a counter-attack and captured Khem Karan and Munabao.
Having failed to achieve their objective in the Lahore sector, the Indians launched an offensive towards Sialkot and advanced up to Chawinda, where the biggest tank battle after the World War II was fought and the Indian Armoured Division was forced to withdraw after suffering losses of nearly 100 tanks. Chawinda witnessed myriad of unbelievable acts of bravery on part of the army personnel. When the war finally ended after 17 days through a ceasefire, both Pakistan and India held each other’s territory. As far as the ground battle was concerned Pakistan almost enjoyed parity with India.
However, Pakistan Air Force decidedly enjoyed ascendency over the Indian Air Force which was five times bigger in size, a fact corroborated by international defence analysts. The PAF in addition to assisting the ground forces also hit targets in India and engaged attacking Indian fighters in several dogfights. At the end of the war the Indians had lost more aircrafts than Pakistan. India claimed that it had downed 73 PAF planes and lost 59, while PAF claimed that it had shot down 104 Indian planes and lost 19 of its own. The Indian claims of downing 73 Pakistani planes were certainly exaggerated in view of the fact that when Pakistan entered war it had a fleet of 138 fighter aircraft and it flew 116 aircraft in a parade just after the war, corroborating its assertion that it had lost only 19 aircraft. However, according to independent sources, PAF lost 25 aircraft against 60-75 by India (25 in air combat). Despite disagreement on the exact figures, the fact remains that Pakistan Air Force had the upper hand and its pilots added a golden chapter to the history of PAF through their flying skills and valour. The name of M M Alam who shot down 5 Indian planes in a minute in a dogfight would always stand out as a beacon light for defenders of Pakistan.
These were unbelievable achievements against a five times bigger enemy and the way the Pakistan armed forces defended the motherland and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy could not be described by any phrase other than a victory. And to characterise it as a ‘terrible loss’ is an affront to the entire nation, our valiant sons of the soil who sacrificed their lives to give us a secure environment to live and lead our lives. I think Dr Zaidi needs to apologise to the nation for his indiscretion.
Our valiant armed force of course undoubtedly gave a good account of themselves, backed by an impregnable national unity and unstinted support of the people of Pakistan. The spirit of patriotism witnessed during the 1965 war was phenomenal. I am personally witness to some of the rare events and acts of patriotism by the people, their love for the armed forces and their resolve to defend the territorial integrity of the country.
The decision to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war in a befitting manner is a very prudent move to revive the same spirit in view of the renewed Indian hostilities against Pakistan along the LOC, the overt and covert attempts by the Modi government to destabilise Pakistan as well as threats of a limited war against Pakistan. It was essential to give the Indians a clear cut message that Pakistani nation and its armed forces were more than prepared to thwart any act of aggression. The statement by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the eve of 6th September that Pakistan would defend its territorial integrity at all costs while gravitating for peaceful co-existence on the basis of sovereign equality and the statement by the COAS General Raheel Sharif that armed forces of Pakistan were ready for any traditional or non-tradition war and any cold or hot start, are really morale lifting and reassuring for the entire nation who at the moment is standing behind its armed forces like it was in 1965 and has an unflinching faith in their ability to teach the enemy a lesson.
The media deserves unqualified accolades for its role in regenerating the 1965 spirit and highlighting the heroic deeds of the sons of the soil who through faith-inspired courage defeated the enemy. All this is not, however, to whip up war hysteria. It is simply meant to reiterate nation’s resolve to defend itself at all costs and nobody should be in any doubt it, whatsoever. Pakistan does not want war with India and is desirous of peaceful co-existence by resolving all the outstanding disputes with India, especially the core issue of Kashmir. But as they say, it takes two to tango. India needs to respond positively to peace overtures by Pakistan. There is an imperative need for the two countries to stop considering each other as an enemy, have their disputes resolved and focus on changing the fate of millions of people living under abject poverty in both the countries.