Contributions to national strength best way to pay homage to Shuhada: COAS

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa Saturday said that the best way to pay homage to country’s Shuhada was through contributions to the national strength in pursuit of national objectives.

He stated this during a visit to Army Marksmanship Firing Ranges near Jhelum, where he attended the closing ceremony of the 37th Pakistan Army Rifle Association (PARA) Central Meet, the mega shooting competition of the country as chief guest, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement issued here.

While interacting with participants, the COAS appreciated the shooters on their excellent standard of marksmanship.

He said that shooting was one of the basic soldiering skills and mastery which was a proud achievement. "December 16 is a day that we must never forget. Our enemy hurt us on this day at Peshawar three years back," he said.

“We have come out of this heart wrenching incident through national resilience and faith. However, we still have a lot to do to ensure that we completely defeat them, who perpetrated that crime against us”, the COAS added.

He said while at the national level, the path was outlined in National Action Plan, at the Army level, it was the pursuit of professional excellence and commitment, which had turned the tide. In this regard, activities like firing competitions played a vital role, the COAS emphasised.

A total of 811 firers, including 142 civilians and 25 teams from three services, Pakistan Rangers, Lahore Garrison Shooting Gallery, Federal Rifle Association and Pakistan Police from Punjab, Sindh and KPK participated in 29 events during the four-week long PARA meet.

The special feature of the meet was participation by war wounded officers and soldiers, who had overcome various levels of combat disabilities. Pakistan Army’s team scored maximum points to become champion in Inter-Services Firing Competition.

The COAS awarded trophies and medals to the winners and runners-up in each category of the shooting.

The biggest military shooting honour, "The Master at Arms Trophy” was awarded to Havildar Sadiq Badshah of Bahawalpur Corps. “The President’s Cup National Challenge Match Trophy” was awarded to sepoy Azeem Shah of Army team. The Prime Minister “Skills at Arms” big bore National Challenge Match was won by Pakistan Army. The COAS trophy was clinched by Pakistan Air Force. The Chief of Air Staff pistol match was won by Pakistan Navy. The “Best Shot Match Trophy” Gp - 2 was awarded to Naikk Nazar Ali.

Major General Ahsan Gulrez won two individual and three team medals during the competition.

Commanders of Rawalpindi, Mangla, Gujranwala, Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur Corps, Inspector General training and evaluation, Inspector General Arms and other senior military officers were also present on the occasion.