LAHORE: For Asma, time stopped when her husband and two sons were killed in a terrorist attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi cantonment in 2009.
“I heard the first blast just when my older son Minhaj who had recently joined the Pakistan Air Force left for Friday prayers.” Survivors said her husband, Lt Col Fakharul Hassan, was shot in the chest when he tried to stop a terrorist. “I never thought it could happen to us. It feels like civil war.”
Another victim of the ongoing War on Terror, Lt Faraz Malik died in a roadside IED explosion while he was on patrol the South Waziristan military operation. His father, Lt Col. Zafar Sultan echoes the same feeling of disconnect with state policy and blames the situation on military dictator Pervez Musharraf’s decision to join the war. “If the government had channelled the jihadi element [after the Afghan war], things would have been different.”
Col. (retd) Syed Jaffar, father of Lt Yasir Abbas who died in the PNS Mehran attack, said the armed forces need to be smarter about compensating victims. “We need to acknowledge martyrs through symbolic gestures […] to motivate the younger generation to join the forces.” He wrote to the prime minister to remind him of his promise to recommend Yasir for Nishan-e-Haider, but has yet to receive an answer.
But Pakistan Army spokesperson Maj Gen Athar Abbas said compensating victims of the War on Terror has strained the army’s resources for there are individual shaheed packages. More than 3,000 soldiers have been killed and over 9,500 injured. “Not every soldier deserves an award,” he said.
Defence analyst Imtiaz Gul said Pakistan’s alliance with the US is no secret, which creates resentment among victims since terrorists touch their hearts with their narrative on Muslims suffering. “The biggest fallout of the War on Terror is radicalisation in urban areas.” The government needs to realise that rehabilitation is necessary for victims so that they can build a counter-narrative. It has become an ideological battle, good versus evil and the army cannot fix this since it has a garrison mentality, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2011.
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The reward for the matyred is with God, but why should his family be punished? The honour given to the Shaheed will not fill the bellies of his family members which he left behind. A society has to take care of the vulnerable and if a soldier is martyred, the society is responsible for the well beeing of his family who has lost their financial supporter..
@Aadersh: absolutely right, the reward for a shaheed should be in heaven...now i wonder why their families insist on rewards in this world too?
...we the civilians of pakistan demand recognition as doctors, engineers, lawyers, technicians, sportsplayers, thinkers and developers for feeding the hunger of power, money, plots, free education and a constant reason for war, which comes from the armed forces of Pakistan....we the civilians should also be recognised for all the unrecognised martyrs we have given to the unjust and self created causes of the armed forces...not only the men, but also the women, children and elderly, who have died or have been abducted for high ransom because of the taliban menace these very armed forces created.
There should be NO room for any negotiation with Taliban or the likes of them...By doing so we are validating their existence and more importantly their purpose. Whatever decisions are taken and were taken were not exactly sanctioned by the figure-head but by powers that be...But that aside....We salute all the heroes and martyrs...Your jobs aren't the world's easiest!
We owe you our lives
The tragedy is that these young men put their lives in peril and die on battle field to save the corrupt bureaucracy and self-interested and unworthy rulers. The blood of martyrs is bartered for their personal comforts, riches and ill-gotten money of bureaucrats , Politicians and mafias. The resources of this country are pillaged and the plight of people remain what it was. Poverty is route to terrorism. The road to poverty is paved by no one other than dirty bureaucracy. The thefts from national exchequer, the squandering of the resources, the commissions, the tax evasion all add up to enhance unemployment and fuel terrorism. The first step in war against terrorism would be to hang few fat bureaucrats and bad reputed politicians. This will be a good beginning in putting Pakistan on right path. Families of the soldiers and officers who laid their lives must at all cost be compensated with thanks and honor. Thankyou Armed Forces of Pakistan and Pakistan Zindabad
We r proud of our Army... Your Reward is in shape of heaven... Ay Rah e haq k shaheedo tumhain watan ke hawaen salam kehti hain..
Why this news is only taking into account the deaths of the few military officers only and ignoring the thousands of foot soldiers who have sacrificed their lives while fighting terrorists? Let us be thankful to all the soldiers who have been paid meager salaries and few perks and they actually do the fighting. I am not against the sacrifices of the officers but let us treat them all fair and square. The officers are paid very well with lifetime perks vs. the poor soldiers.
we need to talk to the taliban