Yadgar-i-Fatah monument inaugurated in Islamabad ahead of Independence Day

WEB DESK: The Yadgar-i-Fatah monument, built to honour Pakistan’s martyrs and commemorate Marka-i-Haq, was inaugurated by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday night, ahead of the country’s 79th Independence Day.

Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, president Zardari and prime minister Shehbaz attended the ceremony. They stood for the national anthem, which was played by a military band.

Television footage showed a large contingent of military, paramilitary and police personnel presenting a guard of honour, while other senior military officers and government officials also attended the event.

The monument commemorates Pakistan’s claimed victory over India during the brief military confrontation in May. The conflict began following the April 22 Pahalgam attack and continued until a ceasefire was reached between the two countries on May 10, following Pakistan’s Operation Bunyanum Marsoos.

The Pakistani state has referred to the confrontation as “Marka-i-Haq”, or the “Battle of Truth”.

The monument features five archways, representing the five pillars of Islam as well as what the monument describes as five pillars of Pakistan — the government, military, media, people and the ideology underpinning the nation.

The archways also symbolise the three branches of the armed forces, the Army, Air Force and Navy, alongside cyber-defence and space warfare.

As part of the inauguration ceremony, a light and sound show was presented, with moving images projected onto the monument, state television reported. One sequence depicted Pakistan’s history and military journey leading up to Marka-i-Haq.

Iconic moments from the May conflict were also projected onto the monument, including scenes showing villagers and Punjab Rangers jointly engaging Indian drones.

The ceremony concluded with a flypast by Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, which deployed flares across the night sky over the monument.