Our Heroes need their identity back - Pakistan Army

[ghazi52]

This is unique picture of Maj. Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed (Nishan e Haider) when he Joined Royal Indian Air force as an AC ( Air Craftman ). He then joined Pakistan Air Force on 14 August,1947 and later on he got commission in Pak Army.

 

[ghazi52]

PM Liaquat Ali Khan with Maj Tufail Muhammad Shaheed Nishan E Haider at the Punjab Regiment in 1950's

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

Brig. Hashim Khan – Once A Young Captain Who Saved A Belgian Mountaineer’s Life & Became A Hero!

A member of Belgian Mountaineering Team approached the local Army Aviation Base and requested that one of their team members need help. The team was climbing the Rakaposhi Mountain when he slipped from the gradient and wounded badly, making him unable to move. The team brought him down to Camp 5 which was located on the altitude of 5500 meters in the upstream of Jaglot Gah.

The Captain of Alouette III helicopter and his Co-Pilot Major Azam were assigned the task to bring down the Mountaineer. When the pilots reached the Base they were informed that Camp 5 is located on the height of 6000 meters. Calculations told that to carry the load from such a height, it was necessary to off load the excessive weight. So, the Co Pilot and some safety measures such as back door, seats and skis from the helicopter were removed. Moreover, some of the fuel was also drained.

When the Captain took off for the rescue, he was alone for the mission. Soon he reached adjacent to Camp 5. Altimeter was showing the reading of 6500 meters which was 200 meters more than the possible altitude taken by an Alouette III helicopter. There was no place for the chopper to land and the skis were also removed, therefore it was a very difficult task to keep the chopper stable. Showing a high level of excellence and professionalism, the pilot managed to load the wounded mountaineer in the chopper. In the meantime, the red light of fuel tank started blinking, showing that the chopper is running out of fuel. They flew back to the base making a flight of 14 minutes, while the fuel warning kept on blinking. When the chopper landed safely, there was fuel of only 1 minute remaining in the tank.

This was not just a rescue mission but it was also a world record of the highest flight taken by an Aloette III helicopter. The first record was to fly on an altitude of 19500 feet on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, but it was broken by an altitude of 22000 feet done by the Captain.

Belgian King announced "Order of Leopold" (The Highest Award given to a foreigner by Beligain King) where as the "Aero Spatial" also announced the award for the Captain.
Today the world knows this Hero as Captain Hashim Khan ( Later Brigadier Hashim Khan).

Mr. Hashim Khan also appeared in the Pakistani Dramas "Sunehray Din" and "Alpha Bravo Charlie". This is his last Photograph in Uniform.

 

[ghazi52]

Year 2005

Wahga Border, Lahore

It was a usual day for the officials deployed at the gate of Wahga Border. A company of Rangers was at stand by along with some intelligence officials and a number of journalists. The exchange of prisoners was going to take place from both sides. Pakistan released some fishermen and a number of villagers who crossed the border erroneously whereas India was also going to do the same. At the fixed time, the gates were opened, cameras flashed and the groups started crossing the gates. In a group of fishermen approaching Pakistani side, there was also a tall old man. Lean, weak, wearing worn out clothes. His hands and legs were shaking; it was difficult for him to walk.

The group was taken to a border check post where NDRA officials along with concerned authorities were present for the verification of the people. Everyone went to the desk and by introducing himself; he got his permission to enter Pakistan. The whole group was verified, except for the old man as he had no tongue in his mouth to speak, his condition was enough to tell that he is mentally disoriented. With a feeling of pity, the intelligence official asked him to provide any possible details but it was not possible for the old man. He gave the old man a writing pad and asked him to write his name. With shaking hands, the old man just wrote a number 335139.
The old man was given in the charge of Rangers. The officials tried to get some possible information but it was of no use because the old man could provide nothing but just a number 335139. Intelligence officials searched for this number. It resulted to be the "Army Number" of a soldier. Now GHQ was informed and a team was sent immediately. As the team entered the room, the old man stood upright and saluted the Major Leading the team. Tears rolled down from the eyes of old man and he started saluting Major again and again. Old man was taken by the team, to the Lahore Cantonment, with a feeling of love and affection.

The old man was verified as a soldier of Azad Kashmir Regiment. He was sent to Kashmir in August 1965 for operation Gibraltar. Srinagar is such an area which is separate from rest of the Kashmir and it is connected to the other parts of the land by small bridges. These bridges had great importance and destruction of even one bridge could lead a full brigade to a failure. The group of that soldier was given the task to destroy such bridges. In operation, the soldier got badly wounded and lost his way to the rendezvous point. His companions tried to find him but they couldn't and the soldier was declared MBK (missing believed killed) in the files.

The soldier was captured by the Indian Army and was taken to prison.

Here another test of patriotism, courage and honor for the mother land begun. The soldier was tortured with every possible way to investigate. He was pierced with blunt tools, his nails were pulled, his limbs were burnt, his bones were broken but he didn't tell anything to the enemy but his number and name. Each time, when he was asked about his mission details, facilitators or hideouts, he said nothing but raised the slogan of Pakistan Zindabad. For many months, enemy kept torturing him but he told nothing. The Indian Colonel who was the in charge of investigation was being humiliated by his higher authorities. He was unable to stop the soldier from raising the slogan of Pakistan Zindabad. In the cold nights of Srinagar, when everyone was asleep and it was quiet everywhere, the soldier kept raising the Slogan of Pakistan Zindabad before the investigation unit. One day when patience of Indians ran out, they accepted their defeat and chopped off the Soldier's tongue to stop his slogans, but next day it was even more humiliating for them to see that soldier wrote Pakistan Zindabad on the walls of 6x4 cell, from the oozing blood of his chopped off tongue. The Indians accepted their defeat and finally transferred the wounded soldier to Amritsar Jail, Where he was sentenced life imprisonment by the Army Court. The Indians never disclosed the identity of that soldier to Pakistani authorities and kept him in jail.

After 40 years in 2005, the soldier was handed over to Pakistan without any proper verification. Nowadays he is under intense care of Pak Army. After a couple of weeks COAS General Ashfaq Perveiz Kayani visited CMH to meet the Soldier. The soldier stood upright and saluted the General. COAS embraced the soldier by saying “You are the finest soldier”.

The name of the Soldier is Sepoy Maqbool Hussain ( P.A No. 331539 ) Sitara e Jurrat.

The Whole nation is Proud of you Maqbool Hussain …

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

6th September the martyrdom anniversary of Pakistan's national hero Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui Shaheed (Hilal-i-Jurrat).

On 6th September, 1965, Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui led a formation of three F-86 aircraft on a strike against Halwara airfield. Soon after crossing the Indian border Squadron Leader Rafiqui had been warned about a large number of enemy interceptors being in the air by the leader of a returning F-86 formation. He, however, continued his mission single-mindedly.

On the way back, the formation was intercepted by about ten Hunter aircraft out of which Squadron Leader Rafiqui accounted for one in the first few seconds. After Squadron Leader Rafiqui shot down one Hunter aircraft, his guns jammed due to a defect and stopped firing upon which he refused to leave the battle area as he would have been perfectly justified to do; he, instead ordered his No. 2 Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry to take over as leader and continue the engagement with the enemy. He himself now took up a defensive position in the formation in an attempt to give it as much protection as was possible by continuing fighting maneuvers in unarmed aircraft whilst the remainder proceeded to give battle to the enemy.

This called for a quality of courage and dedication on the part of Squadron Leader Rafiqui equal to the best in the history of air-fighting. The end for him was never in doubt. He chose to disregard it and in the process, his aircraft was shot down and he was killed but not without his action enabling his formation to shoot down three more Hunter aircraft.



Squadron Leader Rafiqui thus provided exemplary leadership in battle and displayed outstanding courage in the face of exceptionally strong opposition. His inspiring leadership and selfless example significantly affected the subsequent course of the air war in which the P.A.F. never failed to dictate terms to an overwhelmingly larger and better equipped enemy. Squadron Leader Rafiqui's conduct was clearly beyond the call of duty and conformed to the highest tradition of leadership and bravery in battle against overwhelming odds. For this and his earlier exploits, he is posthumously awarded Hilal-i-Juraat.

 

[ghazi52]

May 28, 1989

It was time for Tahajud Prayer when his mother woke up from a dream. She saw that her house was filled with a countless people and they were all gathered to congratulate her. She saw them paying her their affection and saying nothing but, “Mubarak ho Maan ji”. It was not clear what it was all about but it was imminent that something very honorable is going to happen with her family. Next day when she saw, her small garden was full of beautiful flowers, with floral scent in the air. She couldn’t understand what it was all about. She called her most beloved son, but he was out in the field so she couldn’t talk to her.
May 28, 1989

He had just returned from the Attock fort after the unit inspection. Under his hawk eye super vision, he observed every step of the training being given to officers and jawans and was confident that his men can take up any task just on the notice of just a few seconds. He flew to Rahwali, Gujranwala as he had to attend an important event there.

May 28, 1989

“Who are you? Airborne!”
“What are you? Airborne!”

These were the slogans being chanted by the six paratroopers in the small compartment of an MI-17 helicopter. Paratroopers started their jump one after the other. Naik Sultan Ahmed was the third to jump. His “Sahab” patted on his shoulder before he was about to jump. “Khair ho”, were the last word said ho him by his “Sahab”.

On the ground, everyone was looking towards the skies, where one after the other, small dots floating on the sky began to appear. “Now the commander of this paratrooper contingent Brigadier Tariq Mehmood was to appear on the sky, who was the GOC of SSG and known as TM Tiger”, the announcement was made by the commentator on the ground. His wife Mrs. Iffat Mehmood was also looking towards the sky, where she could see the floating dots coming towards ground. Five parachutes were opened but the sixth wasn’t. Sixth member was falling down like a rock. She could see that the parachute of her husband wasn’t among the open parachutes; he was definitely the falling paratrooper. However, she didn’t think that it’s a threat but considered it as a motivational act by her husband. When he was about 200 feet above the ground, everyone could see that it was a parachute failure. TM could be seen struggling with para-chords to open the chute. Mrs. Iffat Mehmood could see her husband making summersaults and trying to open the chute. His speed was not less them 250 KMPH at that time. While he saw the ground nearer, he maintained his falling position of a paratrooper to land on the ground. Away from the landing point, he fell in a wheat field. Meanwhile the paratroopers in the sky also had taken measures to land as quickest as possible. Naik Sultan Ahmed was the first person to reach the landing spot. He got rid of his parachute and ran towards the falling spot of TM. He saw his “Sahab” lying on the ground. He looked as calm and intact as if he is just enjoying a sleep. As he got closer, he saw TM’s left cheek bone which was exposed and had torn out the skin. As he tried to pick him up, considering that his “Sahab” might be alive. He saw that almost every bone in his body had been crushed into pieces. His black dungaree was soaked in blood which was oozing from his body. TM left for heaven…

When the news reached his home at Pindi Ghape, his mother realized that this was the honor which she was told about in her dream. It was her most beloved. Like her dream, people from every part of the town were there to see their most beloved TM. Like the dream, her house was filled with people.

After a few days of TM’s burial, his brothers went on his grave to pray for him. There they saw a young boy in his early twenties. Weeping like a child, sitting near his grave, hand raised for a prayer. Everywhere on his arms, two alphabets “TM” were tattooed. They were surprised to see the young boy and asked that who was he? He told that he was a fan of TM and had met him once. He had heard a lot about TM as he was a living legend among people due to numerous acts of bravery. After meeting TM, he decided to join army, but couldn’t qualify ISSB so he wasn’t selected. Whenever he was free from home, he came to the grave and pray for him. TM’s brothers were greatly impressed with his passion and invited him to visit their home whenever he wants. So he used to visit them and talk a lot about TM with the family members.

TM was not just a uniformed officer among his ranks and friends but was a true source of inspiration. Major Abid Zaman, who is credited to clear the APS Peshawar from the terrorists, was also inspired by TM. Although he is no more, but the course he set and the acts of velour he has performed are still an inspiration for every brave person.

 

[ghazi52]

Nations live through the sacrifices of their heroes. They guard us with their blood and sweat that we may sleep in peace and comfort.

12th September the martyrdom anniversary of Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed NH

Hundreds of books have been written on 1965 war but one of the brightest chapters among those is that of Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed. Major Bhatti was a staff officer in Pakistan army when the war of 1965 war broke out. He had been commissioned into the Pakistan army in 1950 to the Punjab Regiment.

Being posted in Burki area of Lahore, Major Aziz Bhatti had a huge responsibility on his shoulders and that was of securing Lahore, the most important border city of the country.

Shelling was going on from the other side but despite the odds, Bhatti decided to move his platoon forward. Indian tanks and artillery continued to fire but the brave major continued to move his troops forward. Major Bhatti resisted the Indian army continuously for 5 days and 5 nights without sleeping for a moment. He was stationed at one of the most strategic outposts of Lahore, defending the BRB canal.

Despite the threat, Major raja Aziz Bhatti remained on the front while leading his team and kept his platoon informed about the moves of the enemy. For this purpose, he had to place himself on a higher position as the enemy tanks and artillery continued firing. Major Bhatti was exposed to the firing of the enemy and though he tried his best to counter Indian moves, he was hit by an enemy shell in the chest and embraced martyrdom on 12 September 1965.

Before getting martyred, Major Aziz Bhatti Shaheed was given a message that he needed to get some rest and that his replacement was going to arrive soon but he responded, “Do not recall me. I don’t want to go back. I will shed the last drop of my blood in the defence of my dear homeland”.

To honour his services in the 1965 war, Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed was awarded the highest military award of Pakistan i.e. Nishan-e-Haider. He is buried at his local village Ladian in Punjab.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

Colonel Muhammad Khan
Photo Courtesy : M.I. Siddiqi

Colonel Muhammad Khan was a Pakistan Army officer and a war veteran. He also served in the Indian Army of the undivided British India and was a veteran of World War II. While serving in Pakistan Army, he wrote his first book Bajung Aamad which was a humorous autobiography. This book became extremely popular and became one of the most famous books in Urdu literature. The success of his first book earned him critically acclaimed prominence among Urdu humorists and he is considered one of the most influential authors of this genre. He was the fellow of Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Syed Zameer Jafferi, Shafique-ur-Rehman.

He was born as Muhammad Khan in the village of Balkasar which is a part of city of Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan. He studied in Islamia College Civil Lines and when World War II broke out, he joined the British Indian Army. He served in Iraq, Egypt and Palestine. In the Libyan Desert, during the Second World War, he valorously fought against the Germans.

He rose to fame when he surprised the literary circles through his book Bajung Aamad. It was an autobiographical account of his life as a soldier in World War II. In 1974, he went on a tour of the UK and later published his account of the UK tour in Basalamat Ravi. Later he published another book, Bazam Arayan, a collection of semi autobiographical short stories.

Books : Bajung Aamad, Basalamat Ravi, Bazam Araiyan, Badesi Mazah, Tasneefat-e-Kernal Muhammad Khan

 

[Vapour]

Kudos to you @ghazi52 - please keep updating this thread, grateful and indebted to read these tales of valour of the nation's finest brave hearts.

 

[ghazi52]

The Major Stood Tall While The Enemy Rained Bombs, Shells

Hero of “The Battle of Chawinda”, Sialkot, Major Ziauddin Ahmad Abbasi Shaheed (Sitar-e-Jurat).

Major Ziauddin Ahamd Abbasi Shaheed is one of the bravest soldier of Pakistan Army. He sacrificed his life on September 11, 1965 in a war against India in the battlefield of Chawinda. Abbasi Shaheed Hospital was constructed by the city government Karachi in the name of Major Ziauddin Abbasi.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

MAJOR MALIK MUNAWAR KHAN AWAN (SITARA E JURAT)

Major Munawar Awan was an officer of Pakistan Army who led one of the nine and the only successful “Ghaznavi” Force during Operation Gibraltar launched by Pakistan Army in July 1965 in hopes to revive the uprising in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Major Munawar’s force managed to establish a strong local resistance in the area against Indian rule. It fought and captured 500sqkm territory inside Jammu Kashmir region including major towns of Rajouri,Budhil and Thana Mandi after inflicting heavy losses on Indian forces through an extensive guerilla campaign.

Unlike other Guerilla forces of Gibraltar Op, Ghaznavi Force only exfiltrated It’s captured areas inside Indian Held Kashmir after it was ordered to do so in the event of ceasefire between Pakistan and India. Gains of Ghaznavi force in those areas brought Pakistan a strong bargaining position in face of India. Major Munawar Awan was bestowed with Title “King of Rajouri” by the then President of Pak FM M.Ayub Khan as well as Gallantry medal “Sitara e Jurat” for his unprecedented courage and valour.

Munawar Awan remains the only officer to date in the History of Pakistan Army to have successfully carried out a Guerilla Operation inside Enemy Territory. He lived his last breath on 10th May 1981 and was buried in his native village Jhatla (Talagang), District Chakwal in Punjab Pakistan.