Students personify, pay tribute to victims of Gyari avalanche

Play articulated with scenes depicting lives of solders, their loves ones - breathing life into poignant tale.

GILGIT:

Audience were moved by the performances of students on Saturday as they paid homage to the solders and civilians who were killed in Gyari two months back.

On a stage decorated with murals of soldiers in the snowy peaks of Siachen, the students of Public School and College (PSC) Jutial enacted the lives of the 139 soldiers and 11 civilians who were buried under the massive avalanche.

The play was articulated with scenes depicting the lives of the solders and those of their loves ones - breathing life into the poignant tale. In groups, the students personified the soldiers as well as their families, starting from the time that the soldiers were deputed at Gyari. The students made an effort to substantiate the feelings of the victims’ families.

Under harsh climatic conditions, more than 400 rescue workers are still engaged in digging out the bodies from the 13,000-feet-high Gyari sector of Siachen.

Apart from the play, students also delivered speeches highlighting sacrifices being made by army to defend the soil from internal and external threats.

The play was organised by PSC Jutial in its auditorium and was attended by Colonel Staff Tahir Mehmood Wafai, Principal Javaid Aslam, parents, students and faculty members.

“It was quite a performance; I couldn’t keep myself from crying,” said the mother of one of the students who performed in the play.

The chief guest, Col Staff Tahir Mehmood, expressed gratitude to the students and the school management for the tribute. “I have seen many performances of students before but this one was exceptional,” he said. The colonel said the army soldier would defend every inch of its country at all costs and under all circumstances.

The school principal, Aslam, said that over 70 per cent of the institute’s alumni are serving as senior officials of Gilgit-Baltistan administration. He said the school’s success is a collaborative effort of it students, faculty and administration, adding that the school provides quality education as well as extracurricular activities. PSC Jutial was established in 1980.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2012.