Memories of 1965 war alive in Lahore Army Museum

The Army Museum of Lahore contains the military history of Pakistan within its walls. Founded in 2017, the museum has so far been visited by more than a million people, according to its website.

Events and monuments from the partition of India to various battles are preserved here, but the most attractive gallery is dedicated to the war of 1965.

This gallery commemorates the battle when the Pakistani army defiantly faced the Indian army despite being outnumbered.

Lahore, Sialkot, Khemkaran and Rajasthan sectors are featured prominently. The center of attention in this is the command post of Major Aziz Bhatti Shaheed, which has been shown to be closer to reality.

Many informative items on the role and performance of Air Defence, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy during the 1965 war are also on display here. Apart from this, various maps that were used during the war can also be seen here.

Entering the gallery, the battle of Major Aziz Bhatti is shown closer to reality inside a door on the right hand side.

Statues of him and his comrades are installed on the old brick house, while the sounds of explosions, flashing lights and creaking floors all around bring the atmosphere of war to life.

Gallery guide Ikram Maitla told Independent Urdu that the command post of Major Aziz Bhatti in Berki sector has been recreated here so that visitors can see what a soldier feels during a war and how he confronts the enemy.

According to him, the aim is to convey the atmosphere of war and the condition of a soldier to the people.

A red flag in a glass box is also on display in the same gallery.

According to Ikram, ‘Since childhood, our ancestors tell us this story that an Indian general claimed that we will have breakfast in the Lahore Gym Khanap, this flag was installed on the jeep of the same Indian general, which was captured in the Lahore sector.

‘The jeep is kept in a museum in Islamabad while the two guns attached to it are in Lahore.’

In the center of the gallery is also an Indian military jeep which was captured by 15 FF unit in Lahore sector. Two soldiers on board were taken as prisoners of war who were later returned under the Tashkent Agreement.

Warships, helicopters and tanks parked outside the museum also attract visitors. Among them are two Indian tanks which were captured in Chondah sector of Sialkot in 1965.

Both of these were British-made commanding tanks. One was under the command of Colonel AB Tara who was killed inside the tank while the other was commanded by Captain Gardial Singh who was taken prisoner of war and later returned to India.

In one part of the gallery, pictures of the soldiers who took part in the war are installed in the center of the map of Pakistan, while outside there is another wall on which the names of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the motherland since August 14, 1947 are engraved on marble. They also include the names of the martyrs of 1965, which still remind visitors of their sacrifice and bravery.