I missed my flights thrice in my life, at Dubai, Dushanbe, and Islamabad airports. Flights were closed earlier than the scheduled time in all three instances. The Dubai incident cost me significantly. Dushanbe was delayed for a few hours, with a sad ending of the day because when we landed at Khujand airport, my phone was flooded with messages from Pakistan about the assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and the expected eruption of riots in the country.
During the early 1990s, after a hectic day, I rushed from Abbottabad to catch a flight from Islamabad to Lahore to attend an important meeting. Back then, roads were not that good for travel between Abbottabad and Islamabad. There were two of us at the counter, trying to convince the ground staff to help us board, but all in vain. I instantly decided to travel by coach from Moti Mahal, Rawalpindi. When I boarded, I was a bit upset to notice only one passenger in the coach. The driver instantly guessed and convinced me that it would take a few minutes to depart. In the meantime, I better enjoy the latest hit, “Cliffhanger.” I started watching inattentively, but suddenly I sat up and plunged into the film. The hero attempted to rescue a lady from a zipline but failed. The character’s screaming and leaving a glove in the hand of the lead for the depths of the mountains were indeed engaging.
The same happened when I was watching the Battagram rescue operation. A hanging cable car with eight lives onboard, TV anchors giving updates, and when a helicopter approached the cable car, children started crying loudly. A commando attempting to approach was struggling due to the second string of the zipline, trying to handle strong winds and, above all, being extremely vigilant to avoid any tragedy during the rescue operation. It was so tense that it required real nerves to absorb the pressures, which we were feeling even hundreds of miles away from the scene through TV screens. Then there was a bit of relief with the news that one of the trapped persons had been rescued. When I observed an individual, later identified as Sahib Khan, right in the center of the zipline attempting to approach the cable car, it reminded me of the same scene from “Cliffhanger,” but this was real, whereas that was a drama. Finally, the arrival of the last four persons, with Muhammad Ali Swati, was also inspiring.
We certainly appreciated it, but most of us have already forgotten the heroic action of a driver taking a long vehicle filled with petrol caught in fire away from the population to make sure that no one is hurt. The viral video of the incident on social media was simply breathtaking and seemed like a scene from a film. A person driving a huge vehicle engulfed in flames, trying to save human lives and putting himself in extreme danger. We also forgot a bus driver who saved the entire Sri Lankan team in a hail of bullets. We can only imagine the situation when escorts are already martyred, bullets hitting the bus from every direction, and a brave person rescues a bus from the clutches of terrorists. It takes real determination and unwavering courage.
I am penning down my impressions after observing comments on my Facebook post. I wrote, “A movie on the successful cable car rescue operation can gain global popularity.” I was expecting appreciative comments for those who participated in the operation and also kudos for the idea. But the majority of responses were confusing, e.g., a sarcastic comment, “Yeah, we are good at dramatizing.” Another comment says, “By the way, the film is already in progress.” I was surprised to notice a comment, “Too funny.” Why is it too funny? It was indeed a difficult operation that concluded successfully. We have all the right to celebrate and appreciate, which we actually did a day after the incident and awarded certificates to all those who participated in the rescue operation. The most astonishing comment was, “In the proposed film, it will be difficult to portray a villain; otherwise, the entire film will be censored.” There wasn’t any villain in the entire episode. Everyone had risked their lives to evacuate those trapped in the cable car.
We appreciate and recommend movies based on war stories like “Black Hawk Down,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lone Survivor,” and “American Sniper,” among others. We also admire heroic movies and dramas. Even Bollywood has started making movies based on fabricated stories of bravery during the Iraq war and the so-called war against terrorism and spying operations. Such movies secure very good business from around the globe, only because of a strong story and good cinematography. This medium has a significant impact on the masses and influences coming generations.
Why are we unable to develop movies and dramas on real-life events that exhibited unmatched bravery and courage? Why are we hesitant to admire our own visible and undeniable instances of bravery and courage? Why are we skeptical about the sincerity of our heroes? Why do we fail to admit the genuineness of the courage our brave people exhibit during catastrophes?
We have a long list of heroic deeds during disasters of the last few decades, including earthquakes, floods, accidents, terrorist attacks, and so on. We certainly recognize them through national awards, but that only earns a single statement in the media that these people have been presented with national awards for their brave undertakings. We need to promote actual events of bravery and courage through every medium, from writing stories and books to making films and dramas, to instill a sense of pride in our masses and coming generations.
Irrespective of affiliations, everyone who participated in the Battagram rescue operation is our hero. We can develop several independent dimensions of the operation, portraying the importance of every segment of society during challenging times. I hope we will learn from these incidents and will continue to help each other during calamities, as we have been doing throughout our history. At the same time, we will not be stingy in praising those who exhibit bravery and courage during catastrophes.