IT had been six years since the valiant Pakistani armed forces fought that famous battle against the Indian army, after which the date Sept 6 became a permanent feature on the Pakistan calendar to get inspiration from. In 1971, citywide public meetings, military parades, student rallies, processions, fateha khwani and prayers were held to commemorate Defence Day on Sept 6. The meetings were arranged by political parties, educational, social and cultural organisations to pay homage to those who laid down their lives in defence of their homeland in 1965 when the Indian army attacked the country. The students of Greenwood Secondary School paid rich tributes to the martyrs.

A special aspect of the programme that they arranged was the presence of Abdul Majid Minhas, father of PAF pilot Rashid Minhas, Nishan-i-Haider. He told the young pupils to follow in the footsteps of Rashid Minhas Shaheed who made the supreme sacrifice for the honour of the country. After the event was over, the principal of the school, Ms A.B. Kizilbash, members of her staff and the students went to the Defence graveyard and placed a wreath at the grave of Rashid Minhas Shaheed.

A related event was held on Sept 10 at which Dr Mahmud Husain, who had been appointed vice chancellor of the University of Karachi (KU) a little over a month back, urged writers and poets of the country to engage themselves in intellectual pursuits which would strengthen the basis of Pakistan. He was speaking at a meeting held under the auspices of the Pakistan Writers Guild in connection with Defence Day at a hotel. He said after her failure in the 1965 war, India was bent upon destroying Pakistan from within by leading some self-seekers astray. He stressed that in psychological warfare, writers and poets could play the vital role of galvanising public opinion for preservation of national ideology.

Staying on the subject of authors and thinkers, on Sept 8, two books — Urdu translations of popular German tales — were launched by the West German consul general, Herr V Albers, at the Goethe Institut. One of them, Tees Maar Khan, was translated by the eminent poet and humourist Ibne Insha from the tales of Baron Munchhausen. The other was the Urdu version of The Adventures of a Bachelor by Wilhelm Busch. Talking about the inimitable Baron, the consul general told the audience that in his home town in northern Germany everyone regarded the writer as a hero. He was invited to neighbouring castles and manors because of his talent to tell entertaining stories. And every time he repeated a particular story, the adventure became more exciting.

Vestiges of the past, too, tell us stories that we can learn a lot from — true ones at that. On Sept 9, a collection of about 200 archaeological relics discovered from various parts of the country were presented to the University of Karachi Museum for display and research. The presentation was made by the director of archeology, Dr Nazimuddin Ahmed, to the department of history of the university. The relics represented various phases of the history and culture of West Pakistan from the prehistoric to mediaeval periods.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2021