(Abdul Basit Alvi)
On the first anniversary of Marka-e-Haq, or the Battle of Truth, a major ceremony was held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi with senior military officers, families of martyrs, diplomats, retired service chiefs, and media representatives in attendance. The event centered on Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, alongside Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu and Admiral Naveed Ashraf. Proceedings began at the Yadgar-e-Shuhada monument, where Munir laid a floral wreath, observed silence, and recited Surah Fatiha while families of fallen soldiers watched emotionally. In his address, he described the anniversary as a source of pride for Pakistan and its armed forces, recalling how between May 6 and May 10 of the previous year Pakistan had faced what he called an existential threat after India violated its sovereignty but failed in its assumption that Pakistan was internally divided, instead encountering complete unity across provinces and political parties. He framed Marka-e-Haq as a conflict between truth, justice, sovereignty, and international law on one side and expansionism, deception, and falsehood on the other. He argued that India had long relied on economic pressure, diplomatic isolation, covert hostility, and alleged false flag operations, including the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the claimed 2016 surgical strikes, and the 2019 Pulwama crisis, to justify aggression against Pakistan. According to him, the same tactic was repeated after the 2025 Pahalgam incident, which he described as self-inflicted and intended to create war hysteria and distract from India’s domestic problems, but Pakistan responded through Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, a preemptive joint military campaign involving ground, naval, and air forces. Munir praised Pakistan Air Force pilots as examples of modern aerial warfare and stated that more than 26 enemy military targets were struck using fighter aircraft and newly deployed Fatah missiles, which he said bypassed expensive enemy air defense systems, caused major human and economic losses, and eventually forced India to seek a ceasefire through international mediation.
Munir emphasized the sacrifices of civilians and military personnel, saying innocent women, elderly people, and children killed in Indian strikes were the crown of the nation whose blood strengthened Pakistan’s independence, while fallen soldiers, officers, airmen, and sailors guaranteed national security and could never be repaid by the living. He became emotional while recalling a young captain killed moments before the ceasefire while leading his platoon and paused to salute the captain’s mother seated in the front row as the audience wept. He thanked Pakistan’s President, Prime Minister, political parties, diplomats, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for maintaining unity, preventing United Nations Security Council sanctions, and securing support from China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United States, which he thanked for trusting Pakistan to host negotiations between America and Iran after the ceasefire, portraying Pakistan as a responsible regional stabilizer. Addressing information warfare, he accused India of spreading fake news, fabricated casualty figures, cyberattacks, and false nuclear strike warnings, but praised Pakistani journalists, students, youth, cyber teams of the Pakistan Air Force, and Inter-Services Public Relations for countering the campaign and called the conflict a people’s victory as much as a military one. Looking ahead, he warned that future wars would involve multi-domain operations using long-range weapons, drones, cyber technology, artificial intelligence, and integrated cyber, space, and electronic warfare capabilities under a newly established Defence Forces Headquarters, warning that any future aggression against Pakistan would provoke widespread and painful consequences backed by Pakistan’s full-spectrum deterrence. He then turned to the western frontier, accusing India of supporting terrorism by funding and arming militant groups operating from Afghan soil, especially factions he called Fitna al Khawarij, and told the Afghan government that while Pakistan held no hostility toward the Afghan people, it demanded an end to support for such groups and the elimination of terrorist safe havens, warning that Pakistan reserved the right to take unilateral action if Afghan authorities failed to act and promising that every innocent Pakistani’s blood would be avenged. Before concluding, he returned to the Kashmir issue, saying Pakistan’s story was incomplete without Kashmir, reminding the audience that United Nations resolutions calling for a plebiscite remained unimplemented because India refused to honor its commitments, and reaffirming Pakistan’s continued political, diplomatic, and moral support for Kashmiris, whose struggle and right to self-determination he described as non-negotiable.
The speech ended where it began, with a note of faith and resilience. Field Marshal Munir looked up at the sky and said that Pakistan was invincible yesterday, is invincible today, and, with the grace of Allah, will remain invincible forever. He said that no enemy, no matter how powerful, could defeat a nation that trusts in God and trusts in itself. He then stepped back from the podium, saluted, and walked slowly back to his seat. The audience rose as one. The applause was thunderous. But it was a somber thunder, mixed with tears and memories and hope. The families of the martyrs stood and clapped the longest. They clapped for their loved ones who had fallen. They clapped for the victory that had been bought with blood. And they clapped for a Field Marshal who had not forgotten the cost of that victory. The ceremony ended with a prayer for the nation. As the sun began to set over Rawalpindi, the crowd dispersed, but the words of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir lingered in the air. They would be discussed in homes, in schools, in military messes, and in parliament for weeks and months to come. It was, without question, a remarkable speech. And in the history of Pakistan, it would be remembered as a defining moment, the day when the nation celebrated the Battle of Truth and looked ahead to a future of peace, but only a peace backed by overwhelming strength.
