ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, has released a new anthem paying tribute to Pakistan’s police, and it is sung not by a professional artist but by a serving officer, Head Constable Raja Azam Javed of the Punjab Police.
The song, “Hum Shuhada Hum Ghazi Hain” (We Are Martyrs, We Are Warriors), was posted on ISPR’s official YouTube channel on Saturday. It honours both the shuhada, the officers who lost their lives on duty, and the ghazis who survived and still serve. By Sunday morning the video had been viewed more than 16,000 times.
A singer from the ranks
Javed, who is credited on the video as AJ Raj, has served in the Punjab Police since 2005 and has worked as a weapons instructor at the Police College in Sihala, according to the state news agency. The music is by Z. K. Noni, the lyrics are by Shahid Khan Shahabi, and the video was produced by Frontline 360. Its credits thank the office of the Rawalpindi police chief.
The video, a little over three minutes long, cuts between Javed singing against eroded sandstone cliffs and scenes of police work: counter-terrorism teams clearing buildings, women officers training on a firing range, a Punjab Police parade, river patrol boats, and rescue vehicles on the move.
“Often unseen, often unthanked”
In its description of the video, ISPR said that behind every peaceful street, quiet night, and safe home in Pakistan “there is a uniform standing guard, often unseen, often unthanked, and too often sacrificed”. It said the police, from Karachi to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and from the checkposts of Balochistan to Punjab, stood as “the first line of defence against terrorism, crime, and chaos”.
“Many never returned to their families,” the description says. “Their names may be written on memorial walls, but their legacy is written in the safety of our Pakistan.”
The release comes in a week of heavy losses for the security forces. On Saturday the military said a major and a havildar were martyred when terrorists used armed quadcopters against a patrol in Balochistan, and it reported the same day that two soldiers had been martyred in North Waziristan. Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have carried much of the burden of the fight against terrorism alongside the armed forces.
ISPR regularly releases patriotic songs to mark national days and to honour the armed forces. This one is dedicated entirely to the police.
