Every year on 6th September, we remember the 17 days long Pak-India War of 1965. We often think and talk of wars in grand historic terms, but ultimately it is the lives of ordinary people that is touched in extraordinary ways in times of war. We sometimes fail to remember that soldiers are not just the pawns of history. They are people. Today we present a set of rare pictures of soldiers and people from the 1965 war.
Photo details (L to R): (1) An old villager appears to be quite amused as he is initiated into the mysteries of this AMX-13 tank left in Chamb area by the Indian Army. (2) Indian prisoners of war are cheering their favorites in the three-legged race in one of the camp’s sports meets. (3) Soldiers from Punjab Regiment at BRB Canal. (4) Pakistani soldier at Khem Karan marker. (5) Sailor on guard on the brow of submarine Ghazi. (6) No. 19 Squadron pilots.
After signing Tashkent Agreement (from L-R). Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Pakistani Foreign Minister Z. A. Bhutto, President Ayub Khan and Soviet Union Prime Minister Kosygin. One interesting thing to note in this photograph is that everyone seems to be smiling and happy except Mr. Bhutto.
Note: All photographs used in this post, except for Tashkent Agreement, are from the website of Pakistan Defense Consortium. Click on each image for larger view.
I don’t think September 6 and such other dates are important to be remembered. Don’t we have other dates to be remembered? Why only War and militancy related history we need to remember? For God sake close this chapter. We don’t want to remember wars! Make South Asia a weapon free region. Really we don’t need weapons; we need food, education, development and progress!
It is true that the warmth and excitement that 6th September once brought is no more. Sad to see that Shaheeds and Ghazis no longer get the respect they deserve. Comparatively, very people participate in 6th September activities.
People look at the corruption of Generals (a mafia they have become) and unfortunately, they forget that junior officers and soldiers have nothing to do with it. They are just doing their duty to protect motherland in minimum wages and extremely harsh conditions. They are the ones who die in FATA, Swat and other cities and for what? We must not forget their sacrifise and courage.
But I don’t blame people but it is the top military leadership in Pakistan who, thanks to their ugly role in politics, have destroyed every other institution in Pakistan and seriously hampered the reputation of Pak Army. A serious effort is needed on part of military leadership to improve the image of Pakistan Army.
Long live Pakistan and long live Pak Army.
Such has been the volatile condition in our country that nobody cares about September 6th anymore. It used to be a day of great pride for the people of the country, and as a child, I would go to the Defence Day parades held somewhere in the city, and then the Air show on the next day. It was one of the most eagerly anticipated things of the year. Is it still happening with the same fervor?
The country is going through some rough times I know, but it is important to realize that we’ve dealt with pretty bad situations in the past, and our wars are riddled with heroic stories of our soldiers and common men and women dying for the country. There’s an awful lot to be proud of, and IMO we need to remind everyone of that.
@ Ismail….
pray tell good sir that just how did we ‘loose’ the war when the main Indian Offensive was not successful..?
I might be woolly headed on this but military victory is usually associated with achieving war objectives….and the Indian response to Operation Gibralter (agree or dont agree is another question) was an all out invasion (sort of hard to miss that kind of thing)….which did not succeed…
I truly never get this…that men…lots of good men fought and died gallantly..those men stood against us and possible occupation and and the end of current day Pakistan….yet people cannot see beyond their political agenda’s and simply say a quiet Thankyou to those that fought for us and our families…
those men were not responsible for starting/not starting Operation Gibralter or the political shenanigans of Bhutto and Ayub….they had no hand in the rational for it…yet they did what they were supposed to do and did it gladly and for all practical pusposes did a good enough job … especially in the air..THAT….is no propoganda…
a special word for the PAF in ’65 ( quite a few fliers from my own family at that time)…who literally flew the pants off the IAF at the time…truly…truly the stuff of swagger and legend…..It is in the same league as the battle of britain …and I’ll quote Winston Churchill on this:
‘Never have so many owed so much to so few’ ….
Most comments are not according to your policy mentioned above yet you post these.I don’t blame you this is how we operate as Pakistanis …… always.I cannot help but remember Shezad Roy’s latest number Lage Raho.