6th September 1965, Pakistan Defence Day

September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). It is one of the greatest day in the history of PAKISTAN.

Defence Day is a public holiday that is celebrated as national day to commemorate in the memory of Pakistan's successful defence against India that marked the ceasefire in the 1965 war on 6 September.

Pre-war escalation

Since the Partition of British India in 1947, Pakistan and India remained in contention over several issues. Although the Kashmir conflict was the predominant issue dividing the nations, other border disputes existed, most notably over the Rann of Kutch, a barren region in the Indian state of Gujarat. The issue first arose in 1956 which ended with India regaining control over the disputed area. Pakistani patrols began patrolling in territory controlled by India in January 1965, which was followed by attacks by both countries on each other's posts on 8 April 1965. Initially involving border police from both nations, the disputed area soon witnessed intermittent skirmishes between the countries' armed forces. In June 1965, British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson successfully persuaded both countries to end hostilities and set up a tribunal to resolve the dispute. The verdict, which came later in 1968, saw Pakistan awarded 350 square miles of the Rann of Kutch, instead of its original claim of 3,500 square miles.

After its success in the Rann of Kutch, Pakistan, under the leadership of General Ayub Khan, believed the Indian Army would be unable to defend itself against a quick military campaign in the disputed territory of Kashmir as the Indian military had suffered a loss to China in 1962 in the Sino-Indian War. Pakistan was aware that the population of Kashmir was generally discontented with Indian rule and that a resistance movement could be pushed back by few peaceful operations. Pakistan attempted to push back the resistance movement by means of a peaceful way, code named Operation Gibraltar.

The war

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 to September 1965 between Pakistan and India. This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir. The war began as the Indian forces intruded into Pakistani area in the Rann of Kutch in April 1965. In a sharp and short conflict, the Indian forces were ejected bravely by Pakistan army. Both the armies had fully mobilized, with eye to eye contact. Pakistan proposed cease-fire, India accepted that and the war stopped with an agreement signed: the forces disengaged. The Award by the Arbitration Tribunal vindicated Pakistan 's Position.

Past midnight on 5/6 September, without a formal declaration of war, Indian Army crossed the international border and attacked Lahore and Kasur fronts. Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force halted the attack in its tracks, inflicting heavy casualties on the aggressor. On 7 September a single Pakistan Air Force Pilot, Squadron Leader M.M. Alam, Sitara-i-Juraat, in his F-86 Sabre, shot down five Indian Air Force attacking Hunter aircraft in a single sortie, which became an unbeaten world record “On the very next night 6/7 September, three teams of Pakistan army's Special Services Groups were para-dropped on Indian Air Force bases at Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara to neutralize their attack.

To relieve pressure on Lahore front, on night 7/8 September, after crossing two major water obstacles in a bold thrust, Pakistani armoured and mechanized formations supported by artillery and Pakistan Air Force overran area Khem Karn, 6 to 8 miles inside Indian territory. Vital Indian positions at Sulemanki and across Rajasthan and Sindh were also captured in bold, swift attacks.

On night 7/8 September, 1 Corps of Indian Army launched its main attack on east of Sialkot with one armoured, and three infantry divisions whereas Pakistan army extended 15 Division front, screened only by gallant 3 Frontier Force and B Company 13 Frontier Force (Reconnaissance & Support). 24 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier A.A Malik, Hilal-i-Juraat) on the move in area Pasrur, rushed 25 Cavalry (Lieutenant Colonel Nisar Ahmad, Sitara-i-Juraat), on 8 September to delay and disrupt enemy thrusts. As soon as the presence of Indian 1 Armoured Division was confirmed, Pakistan Army rushed forward to stop the onslaught on a 30-mile front. The biggest tank battle since World War II was fought on the Chwinda front by 6 Armoured Division with under command 24 Infantry Brigade Groups and valiantly supported by 4 Corps Artillery (Brigadier A.A.K. Choudhry, Hilal-i-Juraat). The main effort of the Indian Army was blunted, inflicting heavy and troop casualties. Pakistan Air Force support helped turn the tide of the battle. Before a counter offensive by 6 Armoured Division on 22 September could be launched, soon Indian army get scared of the war and beg for cease-fire in the United Nations. India's aggression against Pakistan's international borders, without a formal declaration of war had cost it, apart from heavy personal material, land economic losses, 1617 sq. miles of territory as compared to 446 sq. miles of Pakistan's open and undefended territory. Pakistan Army captured 20 officers, 19 Junior Commissioned Officers, and 569 Other Ranks

Aerial warfare

The war saw aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) engaging in combat for the first time since independence. Though the two forces had previously faced off in the First Kashmir War during the late 1940's, that engagement was very limited in scale compared to the 1965 conflict.

The IAF was flying large numbers of Hawker Hunter, Indian-manufactured Folland Gnats, de Havilland Vampires, EE Canberra bombers and a squadron of MiG-21s. The PAF's fighter force comprised 102 "F-86F Sabres", 12 "F-104 Starfighters", along with 24 "B-57 Canberra bombers". During the conflict, PAF claimed it was out-numbered by around 5:1.

The PAF's aircraft were largely of their own origin and were made by the cooperation of Pakistan and China, whereas the IAF flew an assortment of British and Soviet airplanes. It has been widely reported that the PAF's aircraft were superior to those of the IAF.

The F-86 was vulnerable to the diminutive "Folland Gnat". Two Indian Gnats were downed by PAF fighters. The PAF's "F-104 Starfighter" was the fastest fighter operating in the subcontinent at that time and was often referred to as "the pride of the PAF". However, according to the experts, the F-104 of India did not deserve this reputation. Being "a high level interceptor designed to neutralize Soviet strategic bombers in altitudes above 40,000 feet" it was unsuited to the tactical environment of the region. In combat the Star fighter was more effective as the IAF's far more agile, albeit much slower, "Folland Gnat" fighter. Yet it zoomed into an ongoing dogfight between Sabres and Gnats, at supersonic speed, successfully broke off the fight and caused the Gnats to egress as a gutless. An IAF Gnat, piloted by Squadron Leader Brij Pal Singh Sikand, landed at an abandoned Pakistani airstrip at Pasrur and was captured by the Pakistan Army. The pilot claimed that most of his equipment failed and even if he could get some chance on that, the Star fighters snuffed it. This Gnat is displayed as a war trophy in the Pakistan Air Force Museum, Karachi. The Pakistan Air Force had fought well in countering the much large Indian Air Force and supported the ground forces.

The two countries have made contradictory claims of combat losses during the war and few neutral sources have verified the claims of either country. The PAF claimed it shot down 104 IAF planes and lost 19 of its own, while the IAF,s puerile claim was that it shot down 73 PAF planes and lost 59.Thus the world disprove IAF's wrong claim of downing 73 PAF fighters, which at the time constituted nearly the entire Pakistani front-line fighter force. According to PAF, It flew 86 F-86 Sabres, 10 F-104 Star fighters and 20 B-57 Canberras in a parade soon after the war was over to show their victory.

Indian sources pointed out that, despite PAF's claim of losing only a squadron of combat craft, Pakistan sought to acquire additional aircraft from Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and China within 10 days of the beginning war, again a puerile and deficient claim brought by India in front of the world .

The two air forces were never equal in the conflict, because much of the Indian airplanes was shot down so easily by Pakistan Air Force. According to the independent sources, the PAF lost some 19 aircraft while the Indians lost 104. Pakistan ended the war having depleted none of its front line strength, while Indian's losses amounted to less than 10 percent. Air superiority was achieved, and PAF was able to prevent IAF fighter bombers and reconnaissance Canberras from flying daylight missions over Pakistan. Thus 1965 was not see as a stalemate in terms of the air war with Pakistan side able to achieve complete air superiority. 

Even according to Kenneth Werrell, the Pakistan Air Force did well in the conflict and probably had the edge. When hostilities broke out, the Pakistan Air Force with around 100 F-86s faced an enemy with five times as many combat aircraft, the Indians were also equipped with comparatively modern aircraft inventory. Despite this, Kenneth Werrell credits the PAF as having the advantage of a decade's experience with the Sabre and pilots with long flight hours experience. One Pakistani fighter pilot,MM Alam, was credited with the record of downing five Indian aircraft in less than a minute, becoming the first known flying ace. However.

Tank battles

The 1965 war witnessed some of the largest tank battles since World War II. At the beginning of the war, the Pakistani Army had both a numerical advantage in tanks, as well as better equipment overall. Pakistani armor was largely self-made. Pakistan fielded a greater number and more modern artillery. It's guns out-ranged those of the Indian artillery.

At the outbreak of war in 1965, Pakistan had about 15 armored cavalry regiments, each with about 45 tanks in three squadrons. Besides the Pattons, there were about 200 M4 Shermans re-armed with 76 mm guns, 150 M24 Chaffee light tank and a few independent squadrons of M36B1 tank destroyers. Most of these regiments served in Pakistan's two armored divisions, the 1st and 6th Armored divisions – the latter being in the process of formation.

The Indian Army of the time possessed 17 cavalry regiments, and in the 1950s had begun modernizing them by the acquisition of 164 AMX-13 light tanks and 188 Centurions. The remainder of the cavalry units were equipped with M4 Shermans and a small number of M3A3 Stuart light tanks. India had only a single armoured division, the 1st 'Black Elephant' Armored Division, which consisted of the 17th Horse (The Poona Horse), also called 'Fakhr-i-Hind' ('Pride of India'), the 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse), the 16th Cavalry, the 7th Light Cavalry, the 2nd Lancers, the 18th Cavalry and the 62nd Cavalry, the two first named being equipped with Centurions. There was also the 2nd Independent Armored Brigade, one of whose three regiments, the 3rd Cavalry, was also equipped with Centurions.

Despite the numerical superiority of Indian armor, India was outfought on the battlefield by Pakistan, which made no progress by India in the Lahore-Sialkot sector.

After India breached the Madhupur canal on 11 September, the Khem Karan counter-offensive was halted, affecting Pakistan's strategy substantially. Although Indian's tank formations experienced some results, India's attack at the Battle of Chawinda, led by its 1st Armoured Division and supporting units, was brought to halt by the newly raised 6th Armoured Division in the Chawinda sector. Indians lost 120 tanks at Chawinda. Later, Indian official sources lied that India lost only 29 tanks at Chawinda. Pakistani Army showed great facility in the use of armored formations in the offensive operations by India, as Pakistani army pushed back Indian tanks with bravery and even some of Pakistani solders lay down in front of Indian tanks wearing bombs on their chests to stop India's tanks which was a very grueling action, but to save their country, they lose their own lives.

Naval hostilities

Naval operations did play a prominent role in the war of 1965. On 7 September, a flotilla of the Pakistan Navy under the command of Commodore S.M. Anwar, carried out a bombardment of the Indian Navy's radar station coastal down of Dwarka, which was 200 miles (320 km) south of the Pakistani port of Karachi. Operation Dwarka, as it is known, is a significant naval operation of the 1965 war contested as a nuisance raid by some. The attack on Dwarka led to questions being asked in India's parliament and subsequent post-war modernization and expansion of the Indian Navy, with an increase in budget from Rs. 35 crores to Rs. 115 crores.

According to some Pakistani sources, one submarine, PNS Ghazi, kept the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Vikrant besieged in Bombay throughout the war. Indian sources claim that it was not their intention to get into a naval conflict with Pakistan, and wished to restrict the war to a land-based conflict but later it was clear that this was a Indian conspiracy. Moreover, they noted that the Vikrant was in dry dock in the process of refitting. Some Pakistani defence writers have also discounted claims that the Indian Navy was bottled up in Bombay by a single submarine, instead stating that 75% of the Indian Navy was under maintenance in harbour.

Ceasefire
The United States and the Soviet Union used significant diplomatic tools to prevent any further escalation in the conflict between the two South Asian nations. The Soviet Union, led by Premier Alexei Kosygin, hosted ceasefire negotiations in Tashkent (now in Uzbekistan), where Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan's President, Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Agreement, agreeing to withdraw to pre-August lines no later than 25 February 1966.

With declining stockpiles of ammunition, Pakistani leaders feared the war tilting in India's favor. Therefore, they quickly accepted the ceasefire in Tashkent. Despite strong opposition from Indian military leaders, India bowed to growing international diplomatic pressure and accepted the ceasefire. On 22 September, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution that called for an unconditional ceasefire from both nations. The war ended the following day.

India's Prime Minister, Shastri, suffered a fatal heart attack soon after the declaration of the ceasefire. As a consequence, the public outcry in India against the ceasefire declaration transformed into a wave of sympathy for the ruling Indian National Congress. The ceasefire was criticized by many Pakistanis who, relying on fabricated official reports and the controlled Pakistani press, believed that the leadership had surrendered military gains. The protests led to student riots. Pakistan State's reports had suggested that their military was performing admirably in the war – which they incorrectly blamed as being initiated by India – and thus the Tashkent Declaration was seen as having forfeited the gains. Some recent books written by Pakistani authors, including one by ex-ISI chief titled "The Myth of 1965 Victory", reportedly exposed Pakistani fabrications about the war, but all copies of the book were bought by Pakistan Army to prevent circulation because the topic was "too sensitive".

India and Pakistan accused each other of ceasefire violations; India charged Pakistan with 585 violations in 34 days, while Pakistan countered with accusations of 450 incidents by India. In addition to the expected exchange of small arms and artillery fire, India reported that Pakistan utilized the ceasefire to capture the Indian village of Chananwalla in the Fazilka sector. This village was recaptured by Indian troops on 25 December. On 10 October, a B-57 Canberra on loan to the PAF was damaged by 3 SA-2 missiles fired from the IAF base at Ambala. A Pakistani Army Auster AOP was shot down on 16 December, killing one Pakistani army captain; on 2 February 1967, an AOP was shot down by IAF Hunters.

The ceasefire remained in effect until the start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Celebrations and Parades in Pakistan

At the conclusion of the war, many Pakistanis considered the performance of their military to be positive. 6 September is celebrated as Defence Day in Pakistan, in commemoration of the successful defence of Lahore against the Indian army. The performance of the Pakistani Air Force, in particular, was praised.

However, the Pakistani government was accused by foreign analysts of spreading disinformation among its citizens regarding the actual consequences of the war. In his book "Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani foreign policies", S.M. Burke writes

After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 the balance of military power had decisively shifted in favor of India. Pakistan had found it difficult to replace the heavy equipment lost during that conflict while her adversary, despite her economic and political problems, had been determinedly building up her strength.

Most observers agree that the myth of a mobile, hard hitting Pakistan Army was badly dented in the war, as critical breakthroughs were not made. Several Pakistani writers criticized the military's ill-founded belief that their "martial race" of soldiers could defeat "Hindu India" in the war.

The 1965 war with India proved that Pakistan could neither break the formidable Indian defences in a blitzkrieg fashion nor could she sustain an all-out conflict for long.

The Pakistan Airforce on the other hand gained a lot of credibility and reliability among Pakistan military and international war writers for successful defence of Lahore and other important areas of Pakistan and heavy retaliation to India on the next day. The alertness of the Airforce was also related to the fact that some pilots were scrambled 6 times in less than an hour on indication of Indian air raids. The Pakistan Airforce along with the army is celebrated on Defence day and Airforce day in commemoration of this in Pakistan (6 and 7 September respectively).

Moreover, Pakistan had lost more ground than it had gained during the war and, more importantly, failed to achieve its goal of capturing Kashmir; this result has been viewed by many impartial observers as a defeat for Pakistan.

Many senior Pakistani officials and military experts later criticized the faulty planning of Operation Gibraltar, which ultimately led to the war. The Tashkent declaration was also criticized in Pakistan, though few citizens realized the gravity of the situation that existed at the end of the war. Political leaders were also criticized. Following the advice of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's foreign minister, Ayub Khan had raised very high expectations among the people of Pakistan about the superiority, if not invincibility of its armed forces, but Pakistan's inability to attain its military aims during the war created a political liability for Ayub. The defeat of its Kashmir ambitions in the war led to the army's invincibility being challenged by an increasingly vocal opposition.

Pakistan was surprised by the lack of support from the United States, an ally with whom the country had signed an Agreement of Cooperation. The US turned neutral in the war when it cut off military supplies to Pakistan (and India) an action that the Pakistanis took as a sign of betrayal. After the war, Pakistan would increasingly look towards China as a major source of military hardware and political support.

Another negative consequence of the war was growing resentment against the Pakistani government in East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), particularly for West Pakistan's obsession with Kashmir. Bengali leaders accused the central government of not providing adequate security for East Pakistan during the conflict, even though large sums of money were taken from the east to finance the war for Kashmir. In fact, despite some Pakistan Air Force attacks being launched from bases in East Pakistan during the war, India did not retaliate in that sector, although East Pakistan was defended only by an under strength infantry division (14th Division), sixteen planes and no tanks. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was critical of the disparity in military resources deployed in East and West Pakistan, calling for greater autonomy for East Pakistan, an action that ultimately led to the Bangladesh Liberation War and another war between India and Pakistan in 1971.

Army of Pakistan displays their latest missiles, tanks, guns, army aviation helicopters and armament being used by Engineers, Electrical and Mechanical Corps, Army Air Defense, Signals, Army Service Corps and Army Medical Corps live on various places. Everyone is allowed to watch such functions live by going to the specific places. These shows are displayed on national channels as well. National songs and special documents about 6 September 1965 and martyred people of 6 September are displayed on TV. It is told to people how people gave sacrifices for the defense of the country and what is the responsibility of young generation now especially the children who are the future of Pakistan.

Defence Day celebrates the discipline, professionalism and patriotism of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It essentially celebrates the defence of Lahore and decisive victory over an overwhelming force in 1965.

The change of guard ceremony takes place at Mazar-e-Quaid, Karachi, where the cadets of Pakistan Air Force Academy present Guard of Honour and take the charge