The Siachen Tragedy

The world's highest battlefield known as Siachen brought a tragedy for the valiant soldiers defending their homeland in the worst possible conditions where weather is probably more dangerous than the enemy itself. An avalanche buried 135 Pakistani soldiers in Gayari sector at 0600 AM on 7 April 2012 and is feared to become one of the major incidents of weather-related disasters in Siachen glacier.

Rescue efforts are on using sniffing dogs, helicopters and troops on ground. Heavy Engineers machinery have been moved from Rawalpindi by air. May as many lives be saved as possible even if it needs a miracle. 

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Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Siachen on Sunday to supervise the rescue operation launched to recover 135 soldiers and civilians trapped under the avalanche. He said that efforts were underway to acquire latest technical equipment for the rescue and emphasized that calamity in no way should affect the morale of the troops defending the motherland at the highest battlefield. He said Pakistan Army has always risen to the occasion and will come through this challenge as well.

The role of Media has not been up to the mark so far and they didn't care to stop frivolous humour even for a day. We do expect our vibrant Media to pay due tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives while defending their homeland. Our hearts and minds are with our brave soldiers and their families and friends. Everyone please remember these brave soldiers who are still under tons of snow in Giyari sector.

Weather is cloudy in Skardu and surrounding area making Heli sorties technically difficult since evening on 8 Apr. Any good news is yet to be awaited. Prayers are required for all those trapped under the snow. List of those affected has been released and can be viewed here. 

 

Ideological, Cultural & Political Confusion!

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Pakistan, as we have today, seems to be at the crossroads of an ideological,cultural and political confusion. It consists of diverse groups of people who still remain distinctly away from some sort of national coherence. This part of the Indian subcontinent was separated from the main land on the basis of a Two Nations theory which described the existence of two nations in the region on the basis of religion. Over a period of time, even this very basis has been made controversial and debatable, making the very ideological reason for existence of this poor country questionable. Apart from the ideological divisions, people here also remain fiercely divided in their cultural and political preferences. More unfortunately, being unable to channelize these differences, people resort to violence while expressing a difference of opinion adding to the overall extremist outlook of the society.

Having said that, Pakistan still has a lot of potential to deal with all these serious issues and be known as a progressive nation provided it could, somehow, get an honest leadership who are dedicated to national interests instead of following personal agenda driven by petty self interests. Pakistan needs to educate the ever increasing human resource it has and channelize this volatile form of energetic force present within its boundaries. A serious effort for bringing ideological cultural and political coherence coupled with developing a new culture of tolerance is required to create a long awaited national fabric which could withstand the diversity of language, race and political affiliations. Only then we can make use of the priceless resources we are blessed with.

Apart from the ruling elite, it is the duty of us, all Pakistanis, to do our bit in making Pakistan a prosperous and progressing nation on the world map.