Thursday, January 24, 2008

Letter from a student at GIK

(The following is a moving account from a student of GIK (Ghulam Ishaq Khan) Institute, where an airforce plane crashed yesterday, killing the pilot and a gardner. Though unrelated directly, to any aspect of the crises our country faces today, it is a compelling reflection of the existential angst that so many of our fellow citizens are faced with in these dark times.)

Mubeen

Today, there was an incident here that substantially changed my way of thinking. A Pakistan Airforce trainer plane crashed inside GIKI premises today. The pilot and a gardener died on the spot. There was no other loss of life or property. Further analysis (and some witness reports) revealed that the trainee pilot's quick thinking had prevented loss of 300+ lives and damage to faculty buildings. The pilot, instead of ejecting from the plane when he knew it was going to crash, maneuvered the plane and kept it on the (narrow) road away from the buildings and places nearby, where students hang out during the day. Had he ejected from the plane, he would most probably have survived but the crash site was surrounded by buildings in which 300+ people were working/studying at the time, a lot would have been lost. In short, he sacrificed his life to prevent loss of other lives.

It is incidents such as these that force you to think about...well, about everything. And this time it got me thinking about his selfless act. It is only the leader of the Pakistan Army, who had lowered the army in the eyes of the civilian population. Whereas the truth of the matter is that our army, is willing to sacrifice for the country. They stand ever-ready, to defend our homeland from any harm.

It also made me think that It is really not a leader who makes all the difference. This single man had saved 300+ lives. It made me realize that every-day people can also be heroes. They can also do big things. And they can make a difference. If the pilot would have started blaming the engineers and the government for old planes with mechanical faults, there would not have been enough time for him to think and act as he did. We are too lazy and love to put the blame on others.

From now on, I resolve to change my lifestyle to favor growth and prosperity of Pakistan. I resolve to be honest, devoted and respectful and to deliver what I promise. May Allah grant me the strength to do so. Maybe one day I will be a hero and I will make a difference. Until then, I live on in the hope that the day will soon come.

Lastly, I salute the pilot, for his selfless act. May Allah rest his soul in peace. Amen.

2 comments:

nazia said...

There is no doubt that Pilot had saved many lives but everybody should know its part of training of any soldier or pilot to secure the lives of civilians and borders without giving preference on his life.On that basis they are slected,trained and paid.If any soldier start thinking of its own life first then the actual goal of army is ended becuase civilians are not trained for defense purposes.For this reason only the army in developed countries are always separated from civilans ,their institutions, clubs,training facilities are never mingled with civilians departments as civilians are trained and paid on different priorites.For true soldier death on service is one of great honour but in civilians ,its indicator of poor mangement and polices.
My point to highlight is that our army always shows his sacrifices to poor nation that how its soldier died on duties while nation is comfortable at home.I am sorry to say sir this is your job selected by yours own choice.No body has forcibly hired you.For us a poor traffic sergent is as respactable as yours soldier because he is also risking his life on daily hazards as per his own choice but without any privilages from govt of Pakistan and always treat as lower class citizen.So there is no need to get symapthy on yours routine job as our poor nation has been deprived of necessities of life owing to extrem defence expenditures and luxurious life styles of army officers.

Anonymous said...

There is no doubt that Pilot had saved many lives but everybody should know its part of training of any soldier or pilot to secure the lives of civilians and borders without giving preference on his life.

So your point is that since he's been trained to die, his sacrifice is not worth the praise?

That's the retarded logic that takes is taking us to the ground. Its not just the Army's duty to do self sacrifice for the country. Its duty of those 1000s of professionals who leave Pakistan every day for working abroad to do some self sacrifice as well!