This May 10, Pakistan observed its first Youm-e-Marka-e-Haq, marking the success of Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos. A day to observe not just with ceremonies and salutes, but with reflection on the resolve of a people and their guardians who stood firm like a wall of lead when it mattered most. To the Pakistan Army, to our intelligence services, to every institution and individual who planned, sacrificed and delivered: the nation salutes you. But before the speeches settle and the ticker tapes fade, let us pause. And let us remember that our soldiers never stopped. Right now, as these words are read, men in uniform are standing guard on mountains, in deserts, along borders that never sleep. The duty continues every hour of every day.

Let us remember the ones who did not come home. This salute belongs above all to our shuhada. The sipahis barely past their twentieth year. The lieutenants who had just pinned their stars. The captains and majors who left behind young wives and younger children. The senior officers who spent decades defending this soil, driven by nothing but duty and love, always answering the call. They gave everything on the altar of a country that sleeps safely because they did not. May Allah grant them the highest place in Jannah, and may their families find peace in the knowledge that this nation has not forgotten them, and never will.

Now, here is something that hurts me. Every time Pakistan celebrates, we reach........

© The Express Tribune