The Only Son
He was the only son of his parents — the centre of their world, the pride of their home. Captain Ahmad Iqbal Shaheed of the 136th PMA Long Course had chosen the uniform over the comforts of civilian life, trading ease for discipline and honour. To be an only son and to choose the Army is a decision that asks the most of a family. His parents gave the nation their only child, trusting the Army with the most precious thing they had. That trust — and that gift — is something the nation can never repay.
A Life Taken Without Warning
On 28 September 2024, tragedy struck without warning. Captain Ahmad Iqbal slipped and fell into a dam, and embraced martyrdom. There was no battlefield that day, no exchange of fire — only a cruel accident that took a young officer in the prime of his life. For his parents, the loss is beyond measure: their only son, gone in a moment.
Soldiers accept risk as part of their profession, but some dangers arrive unannounced. He embraced shahadat in the line of duty, and the nation honours him as it honours all its fallen, for he wore the uniform and served the flag until his last breath. The 136th PMA Long Course, his course, remembers him as one of their own. Course mates share a bond forged in the hardest years of their lives, and on each 28 September, they remember the officer who stood beside them on the parade ground at Kakul.
The Empty Chair
For parents who have lost an only son, grief has a particular shape. There is no other child to carry the name forward, no brother or sister to share the remembering. There is only the empty chair, the silence where his laughter used to be, and the pride — fierce, aching pride — that their son chose the uniform and honoured it to the end. The nation can never fill that chair. But it can stand beside it, every 28 September, and say: we remember him too.
Captain Ahmad Iqbal traded the comforts of civilian life for the discipline of the Army, as every officer does. But for an only son, that trade asked his parents to give the nation everything they had. That is the gift the country received on 28 September 2024 — and it is a gift the country can never repay, only honour. He served briefly. He served faithfully. The pride of the nation, the pride of his course — and the pride, forever, of his parents.
The Original Tribute
Today is 2nd shahadat anniversary of Capt Ahmad Iqbal Shaheed.
On 28 Sept 24, he fell into a dam after slipping, and embraced martyrdom.
Only son of parents. Pride of the nation. Pride of 136L/C.
Pride of the Nation, Pride of His Course
His shahadat anniversary is observed every year on 28 September, when his course mates and fellow officers remember him. He is spoken of as the pride of the nation and the pride of his course — titles earned not by years of service but by the sincerity of his sacrifice.
Behind every name on the roll of honour there is a home that was never the same again: parents who set a place at the table that stays empty, a silence where a son’s laughter used to be. Nations are built on such quiet griefs, borne with dignity by families who asked for nothing except that their sacrifice be remembered. To remember is the least the nation can do, and the most it owes.
There are no small sacrifices in uniform. Whether a soldier falls to enemy fire or to a sudden accident, he falls in service, and the nation owes him the same honour. May the soil of Pakistan rest light on Captain Ahmad Iqbal Shaheed, and may his parents find comfort in the honour their only son earned. He served briefly. He served faithfully. He will be remembered always.
 embraced martyrdom on 28 September 2024 after slipping into a dam. Read his tribute on Feature Pakistan.){kind=link}