LAHORE: Leaders of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) have said that Pakistan’s defence is in strong hands and that September 6 remains a symbol of the courage, determination and resilience of the Pakistani nation.
According to a joint statement issued by the party’s central leadership ahead of Defence Day, the spirit displayed by the nation during the 1965 war remains alive, and the country’s people stand firmly alongside the armed forces in the defence of Pakistan.
The statement was issued jointly by PMML President Khalid Masood Sindhu, Secretary General Saifullah Kasuri, Vice-Presidents Hafiz Talha Saeed and Hafiz Abdul Rauf, Joint Secretary Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Deputy Secretary General Khalid Naik Gujjar, central spokesperson Dr Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi, Khidmat-e-Khalq President Chaudhry Shafeequr Rehman Warraich and Muslim Youth League President Tabish Qayyum.
The signatories described September 6 as a proud day in Pakistan’s history.
The leaders said the armed forces and the nation had, through unity, faith and patriotism, faced the challenges posed by the enemy during the 1965 war.
They paid tribute to the martyrs, war veterans and all those who had served in the defence of the country, describing their sacrifices as a source of inspiration for future generations.
The statement said Pakistan’s security, sovereignty and ideological identity would be defended at all costs.
It added that national unity and solidarity were essential to counter terrorism and the other challenges facing the country — a formulation that places the party’s Defence Day messaging alongside the internal security concerns that have dominated Pakistan’s political discourse in recent years, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Turning to the country’s youth, the leaders urged young people to reject despair and negative thinking and to use their abilities for Pakistan’s development and progress.
Countering hostile propaganda through awareness, unity and truth, the statement said, was a collective national responsibility.
September 6 is observed nationally as Defence Day, commemorating Pakistan’s response to the outbreak of full-scale hostilities with India in September 1965. The conflict was fought principally along the Lahore and Sialkot sectors and in the Chhamb and Rann of Kutch areas, and ended in a United Nations-backed ceasefire later that month. The two countries signed the Tashkent Declaration in January 1966.
Lahore occupies a particular place in the commemorative calendar, as the defence of the city’s approaches at the BRB canal has become the central image of the 1965 narrative in Pakistani public memory. Wreath-laying ceremonies, change-of-guard ceremonies, school functions and political statements mark the day across the province each year.
The PMML is a registered political party that contested the February 2024 general election, fielding candidates across national and provincial assembly constituencies under the electoral symbol of a chair. It was launched in 2022, succeeding the Milli Muslim League, which the Election Commission of Pakistan had earlier declined to register following an interior ministry report on its affiliations.
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