Ayub's address to the nation

Pakistan and India went on war in September 1965. The following broadcat by Ayub Khan is one of the most famous speeches in the history of the country, and at that time it succeeded in inspiring the people to stand up for defending their independence. Quite conveniently, the speech does not mention the Operation Gibraltor and Operation Grand Slam -- two secret initiatives of the Pakistan Army for infilitrating into the Indian-held Kashmir, which had apparently invoked this massive attack from the other side.

Ayub Khan's address to the nation

6 September 1965

Excerpts

The hour of trial for a hundred million people of Pakistan has struck…

The Indian rulers were never reconciled to the establishment of an independent Pakistan where Muslims could build a homeland of their own. All their military preparations during the last 18 years have been directed against us…

Now that the Indian rulers, with their customary cowardice and hypocrisy have ordered their Armies to march into the sacred territory of Pakistan, without a formal declaration of war, the time has come for us to give them a crushing reply which will put an end to India’s adventure in imperialism…

The hundred millions of Pakistanis whose hearts beat with the sound of 'La Ilaha Il Allah Muhammad ur Rasul Allah' will not rest till India’s guns are silenced forever. The Indian rulers do not yet realise what people they have taken on. Dedicated to the faith and convinced of the justice of their cause they will fight as one man in the name of God whose promise to mankind is that right shall triumph. A state of emergency has been declared. We are at war. Our brave soldiers have gone forward to repel the enemy…

We are invoking the United Nations’ Charter to exercise our inherent right of individual and collective self-defence recognised in Chapter VII of the Charter. My dear countrymen, in this hour of trial you have to remain absolutely calm. You must know that each one of you has to perform a supreme duty which demands complete dedication and devotion…

Be prepared to strike and to strike hard; for the evil which has raised its head against your borders is doomed to destruction. Go forward and meet the enemy. God is with you.

Pakistan Paindabad.

Source: Herald. August 1997

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