Yadgar-i-Fatah monument inaugurated in Islamabad on eve of Independence Day
The Yadgar-i-Fatah monument, built to honour Pakistan’s martyrs and commemorate Marka-i-Haq, was inaugurated by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday night, on the eve of the country’s 80th Independence Day.
Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were in attendance and stood for the national anthem, played by a military band.
Other distinguished military officers and senior officials attended the ceremony.
Visuals broadcast on television showed a large contingent of personnel from the military, paramilitary forces and police presenting a guard of honour, accompanied by a military band.
The monument features five archways, which represent the five pillars of Islam, as well as the five pillars of Pakistan itself — the government, the military, the media, the people and the ideology underpinning the nation.
Additionally, they represent the three branches of the military — the Army, the Air Force and the Navy — as well as cyber-defence and space warfare.
As part of the inauguration, a light and sound show was presented with moving images projected directly onto the monument, state television showed. One of the sequences highlighted the history of Pakistan and its military up until Marka-i-Haq.
Iconic moments from the May war were also projected onto the monument, such as when villagers and Punjab Rangers shot at Indian drones together.
Following the light show, Pakistan Air Force fighter jets performed a flypast over the monument, deploying flares in the night sky.
The monument marks Pakistan’s victory over India in a brief military conflict last May.
The conflict with India — starting from the April 22 Pahalgam attack to the end of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos with a ceasefire between the two countries on May 10 — has been called “Marka-i-Haq” (Battle of Truth) by the state.
More to follow.
