Great patriotic: War unfortunate wars still part of world, says Dr Akhtar

Event marks 70th anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazis

ISLAMABAD: Speakers at an event here on Friday, while regretting the human cost of wars highlighted the importance of peaceful co-existence.

The event was arranged to highlight contribution and sacrifices of Soviets during Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 in addition to the contribution of British India during the Second World War. The “Great Patriotic War” ended in defeat of the Nazi Germany.

Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, a professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University highlighted how histories are re-written. “There are a lot of things that we do not talk about, and a lot of things that we do not mention but it is rather unfortunate that wars are still a part of the world,” he said. Akhtar was of the view that, Nazism still existed in the form of fascism, dictatorship and racism.

Khalid Khattak, former ambassador of Pakistan to Russia said, “fascists are fascists, whether clean-shaven or bearded and we should not discriminate between the two”.

He further said that there could be various justifications given for war but if looked at from a mother’s, father’s, wife’s or child’s perspective, who had lost a loved one, there can never be any justification for war.

Senator Dilawar Abbas stressed the significance of unity among all the sectors of the society.

Former federal minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, who was the chief guest, highlighted the importance of peaceful co-existence.

“I am delighted that an event was hosted to honour victory in the Great Patriotic War and that I am a part of it,” he said.

“It was the bloodiest war in the history of mankind and I would like to highlight the fact that wars do not achieve anything. They do not construct but destroy and must be avoided. For any nation, a war is not an achievement,” said Kaira.

The event was attended by Russian Federation’s Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Dedov as well as senior federal government officials, diplomats, businessmen and members of the civil society.

The Association of Pakistani Graduates from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in collaboration with the Embassy of the Russian Federation jointly organised the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2015.