Saluting all the martyrs

September 6 as Martyrs Day is undoubtedly a day to express our deepest gratitude to those who laid down their lives while defending our motherland. We are also indebted to the families of the martyred for their invaluable sacrifices and personal pain. Surely, this indebtedness is eternal and merely remembering them on this day alone cannot match the sacrifices that they have offered for this land. However, while expressing our gratitude to the people of armed forces, we should also not forget the civilians who gave their lives from behind the trenches to make Pakistan a safer place. Therefore, the civilians who gave their lives during either wars at the borders or act of terrorism are also martyrs and deserve our gratitude. The idea of simply remembering our martyrs as the defenders of our borders fails to acknowledge the larger cause for which they sacrificed their lives for us to live in a safer country. What was the bigger cause for which those martyred sacrificed their lives? The answer to this question is also equally important as we celebrate September 6. We ought to remember that while securing our borders these officers, jawans, and civilians were safeguarding the democratic ideals of our founding fathers for which Pakistan emerged on the horizon as an independent state. So, we need to refresh those ideals to pay homage to our martyrs.

Dr Zafar I Qureshi

Lahore