Pakistan Day Parade

The Pakistan Day Parade also known as the National Day Joint Services Parade is an annual event held at Shakarparian in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on the occasion of the Pakistan Day. It specifically celebrates the anniversary of the Lahore Resolution of 1940. It is overseen by the President of Pakistan as well as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Soldiers from the Mujahid Force during the parade in 2016.

The two are accompanied by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), the Army Staff Chief, Naval Staff Chief, and Air Force Staff Chief as well as foreign guests on occasion. It is organised by Joint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ).

History

A group photo of the Frontier Force Regiment prior to the parade in 1974.

Between its inception and 2008, the parade was held at various venues in the country. These include Constitution Avenue,[1] Jinnah Avenue and the Race Course Grounds in Rawalpindi.[2] Over two weeks prior to the parade in 1980, A conspiracy to assassinate President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq by Major General Tajammul Hussain Malik during the ceremony was foiled.[3] In 2008, the parade was suspended for an extended period of time due to the growing amount of terrorism in the country and fears that an attack on the parade was imminent.[4][5]

After a 7-year break, it was reconstituted in 2015 on the 75th anniversary.[6] This decision was made in part to the anniversary's significance as well as the success of Operation Zarb-e-Azb by the Pakistan Army.[7][8] As a precaution however, phone networks were blocked to thwart militants mobile cellular signals that could trigger bombs.[9][10]

The 80th anniversary parade was cancelled in 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Pakistan, with the cancellation being an attempt to midigate the fall out from the pandemic.[11] During the rehearsals for the planned parade, a Pakistani Air Force Wing Commander flying in an F-16 jet was killed when it crashed in a wooded area.[12][13][14]

On March 13, 2020, A missing man formation would later be flown by the PAF on 13 March to honor the pilot.

Details

Members of the Pakistani Air Force during a parade rehearsal in 2016.

It begins in the morning at 10 a.m. and is immediately broadcast live by the Pakistani media.[4] At the parade, the services of the Pakistani Armed Forces are represented: the Army, Navy, Air Force and paramilitary forces. and the presidential arrival honors. The parade is led by a parade commander who is a senior officer in an army unit. Led by a massed color guard, the parade has consisted of units such as the 24th Cavalry (Frontier Force), the Guard Battalion and the Pakistan Rangers. Military equipment that have been unveiled at the parade have included the Type 84 and the SLC-2.[15] The Sherdils from the Pakistan Air Force Academy at Risalpur take part in the ceremony annually, performing formation aerobatics. On the planes used by the group, the Hongdu JL-8, has been showcased at the parade since 1994.

Other aircraft such as the CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder have also been unveiled at the parade.[16][17]

Bands from the armed froces that are present include the Pakistan Military Academy Band (PMA Band),[18] the Pakistan Armed Forces Band and the Pakistan Air Force Band.

Parade Commanders

From 1956 to 2019, the following officers from the army have led the joint services parade:

Year	Officer	Unit	Notes
1983	Brigadier Nasir Mehmood	1st Punjab Regiment	.
1987	Brigadier Afzal Janjua SJ	FF Regt	Later Lt. Gen.
1989	Brigadier Yasub Dogar	2 FF Regiment (Guides)
1996	Brigadier Naveed Nasr	17 Punjab Regiment	Also commanded 70 Punjab
1997	Brigadier Javed Iqbal	18 Field Regiment	MS to Nawaz Sharif in 1999
1998	Brigadier Akram Sahi	FF Regt	Later Maj. Gen.
1999	Brigadier Khalid Nawaz Janjua	3 Baluch Regt	Later Lt. Gen.
20xx	Brigadier Badar Munir	AK Regt
2005	Brigadier Naushad Kiani	Punjab Regt	Later Maj. Gen.
2007	Brigadier Tariq Ghafoor	FF Regt	Later Maj. Gen.
2008	Brigadier Ihsan ul Haq		Later Maj. Gen.
2015	Brigadier Khurram Sarfaraz	27 Baluch Regt
2016	Brigadier Amir Majeed	29 AK Regt
2017	Brigadier Amer Ahsan Nawaz	3 Baluch Regt	Now Lt. Gen.
2018	Brigadier Amer Amin	19 FF Regt

Foreign representation

Foreign dignitaries who have attended the parade

From 1956 to 2019, the following foreign dignitaries who have attended parade are:

Year	Foreign dignitary Guest of Honour	Country	Notes
1985	General Rudini[19]	Indonesia	Chief of staff Indonesian Army
1987	Robert Mugabe	Zimbabwe	President of Zimbabwe
1996	Cassam Uteem[19]	Mauritius	President of Mauritius
1997	OIC Heads of States	OIC Members	To attend Extra-Ordinary OIC Summit
2005	Hamid Karzai	Afghanistan	President of Afghanistan[20]
2018	Maithripala Sirisena[21]	Sri Lanka	President of Sri Lanka
2019	Mahathir Mohamad[22]	Malaysia	Prime Minister of Malaysia
2019	Colonel General Zakir Hasanov[23]	Azerbaijan	Minister of Defence

Foreign contingents

Year	Contingent	Country
1956	Janissary Military Band	Turkey
1956	Iran Military Contingent	Iran
1956	Turkish Military Contingent	Turkey
1997	Janissary Military Band	Turkey
2017	Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion	China
2017	Janissary Military band[24]	Turkey
2018	Saudi Arabian Special Forces	Saudi Arabia
2018	UAE elite unit[25]	UAE
2018	Jordanian Armed Forces Band	Jordan
2019	Azerbaijan Army	Azerbaijan
2019	People's Liberation Army Air Force	China
2019	Turkish Air Force	Turkey
2019	Saudi Arabian Army (Paratroopers)	Saudi Arabia
2019	Royal Bahraini Army (Paratroopers)	Bahrain
2019	Royal Brunei Land Forces (Paratroopers)	Brunei
2019	Sri Lanka Army (Paratroopers)	Sri Lanka

See also

• Delhi Republic Day parade

References

1. https://www.dawn.com/news/383595
2. https://www.dawn.com/news/1171374
3. "'Coup crushed' in Pakistan", Vancouver Sun, March 11, 1980, p1
4. DAWN.com (23 March 2015). "Pakistan holds first Republic Day parade in seven years". Dawn News, 2015. Dawn. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
5. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32014076
6. https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/pakistan-plans-to-hold-republic-day-parade-in-march-1422906257
7. Pakistan marks National Day with first military parade in seven years
8. In the face of terror: Pakistan shows off military prowess
9. https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN0MJ05X20150323
10. https://www.rferl.org/amp/pakistan-republic-day/26915153.html
11. https://www.geo.tv/amp/277199-government-decides-to-cancel-pakistan-day-parade-amid-coronavirus-fears
12. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/03/pakistan-air-force-16-jet-crashes-parade-rehearsal-200311071311372.html
13. https://www.upi.com/amp/Top_News/World-News/2020/03/11/Pakistani-fighter-jet-crashes-during-parade-rehearsal-pilot-killed/9601583921336/
14. https://theaviationgeekclub.com/shocking-video-shows-pakistani-f-16-crashing-in-islamabad-during-rehearsal-for-the-pakistan-day-parade/
15. Muhammad Tariq, Sardar; Jehangir Raja, Asif (April 2015). "Spirits Rekindled - Joint Staff Pakistan Day Parade - 2015". hilal.gov.pk. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
16. "PAF to seek more Chinese aircraft, says air chief". The News International. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
17. JF-17 Thunder main focus of attention at Pak Day fly-past Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Pak Tribune, 24 March 2007.
18. https://www.pakarmymuseum.com/exhibits/history-of-army-school-of-music/
19. Dawn.com (24 March 2015). "Relive Pakistan Day: 1940 – 2000". Dawn archives, 2015. Dawn archives. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
20. http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9961ff644aafad4e0b9f152c8cfd66d8
21. "Nation celebrates Pakistan Day 2018 with military parade, gun salutes". Dawn. March 23, 2018.
22. "Pakistan Day celebrations: Civil-military leaders, foreign dignitaries attend military parade in Islamabad". Dawn. March 23, 2019.
23. https://dnd.com.pk/azerbaijani-military-contingent-attended-pakistan-day-parade-along-with-defence-minister-colonel-general-zakir-hasanov/163120/amp
24. "Saudi Arabia, Chinese and Turkish Military contingents to participate in Pakistan Day parade on". Timesofislamabad.com. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
25. "UAE troops to participate in Pakistan Day parade". Arab News. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.