by: Ch. Muhammad Natiq
She was sitting speechless by the coffin of her husband. Placing both her hands on the lid, looking onto the calm face of her husband; who had embraced martyrdom thirty-six hours ago. Her one-year-old daughter Fatima had slept many hours ago, unaware of the fact that her father has left them forever. A corner of the coffin was dripping with fresh blood of the martyr, even after thirty-six hours. With her face resting on the coffin, she was talking to her husband, but with not even a single drop of tear in her eyes. Her name was Dr. Ayesha Ishaq, the wife of Major Muhammad Ishaq Shaheed.
Major Ishaq was posted in Dera Ismail Khan eleven months ago. Being a family-oriented person, he had brought his family with him. Ten months prior to his martyrdom, his wife had a nightmare, which she considered to be a sign of any disaster for her family. Since that day, she had always been conscious of the wellness of her husband. She knew what kind of dangerous business her husband is in. It was the night of November 21, 2017, around 11:00 PM; when her sleeping daughter woke up suddenly, crying for no reason. Ayesha patted her and told her to sleep. The moment she said the word “Baba”, the crying child calmed down and slept. But for some unknown reason, Ayesha started to worry about her husband.
It was actually the time when Major Ishaq and his men were engaged in a fierce firefight with a group of terrorists. Major Ishaq had received a bullet on his hand but instead of any medical evacuation, he was firing on the enemy. Suddenly a grenade thrown by the enemy landed nearby them. There was no time to take cover. So Ishaq belly-flopped on the grenade to cover his men. The exploding grenade took the earthly life of Ishaq but gave him the path where he set for the highest rank of paradise.
His body was taken to Lahore where he was buried with full honour and dignity. It seemed to be the end of a hero’s life, but Ayesha decided something else. Instead of surrendering in front of the calamities of life, she decided to set an example herself. As she knew that she had been selected to have the honour of a Shaheed family. Considering her medical expertise, she joined Army Medical Corp. After a military training of six months, she was now Captain Dr. Ayesha Ishaq.
Who knew that a girl in the twenties of her age is such a lioness? Instead of fancy shoes and a white doctor’s cover-all, she decided to wear heavy DMS boots and the CCD(Camouflage Concealment Deception ) uniform of the Army. She fired from the same G3 rifle that her husband had fired and got the award for being the best shooter of the course. She proved her mettle in every aspect of her field, showing that some people are never willing to surrender and their only point of view is to win the battle.
