Aye rahe-haq ke shaheedo…

Published in Unique Pakistan,
http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/aye-rahe-haq-ke-shaheedo/

6 September, Defence day is a day to give tribute to the brave soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the motherland. They are the true heroes and their efforts and life history should be highlighted whole year but regretfully, we Pakistanis have linked them to certain dates and usually recall them on those golden days.

Here is the role, performed by the soldiers  who sacrificed their lives in the war of 1965:

Captain Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed:

Captain Raja Muhammad Sarwar Khan Bhatti Shaheed, son of a Muslim Rajput Family (1910–27 July 1948) was in born Singhori village, tehsil Gijar Khan in District of Rawalpindi. He was one of the brave solders among others who had an automotive fire shot on this chest and died at the age of 38.  He was also hit in the shoulder but Inspite of bleeding badly, he kept moving and got to the barbed wire. Sarwar wanted to cut this wire and launch final strike to capture the mountain. As captain was cutting the wire he was hit again, this time in the chest and he fell. That’s how Caption Muhammad Sarwar sacrificed his life for the country and his men captured the territory. For his bravery and great leadership, Sarwar was awarded the highest military award, Nishan-e-Haider.

Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed:

Tufail Mohammad (1914 – 7 August 1958) was born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab and commissioned in the 16th Punjab Regiment in 1943. In August 1958, Major Tufail patrolled an Indian post in the Laksmipur area. Despite he was wounded and highly injured, Major Tufail continued to lead the troops till all Indian driven out as a result of such bravery four Indians were died and three kept in prison. But he got severely injured and fell on the ground, and then got up and said to his officer “I have completed my duty, the enemy is on the run”. Major was taken to hospital but he later died the same day on 7 August 1958 at the age of 44.

Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed:

Major Raja Aziz Bhatti was a Pakistani soldier who received Pakistan’s highest award for heroism. He was born in Hong Kong in 1928. He moved to Pakistan before it titled as an independent state. He lived in the village of Ladian, in the district of Gujrat. There he enlisted with the newly formed Pakistani Army and was commissioned to the Punjab Regiment in 1950. On 6 September war he was Company Commander in Burki area district of Lahore. Major Bhatti moved forward under incessant artillery and tank attack for five days and night for the defense of B&B Canal. He bravely faced all the shelling, gun shots attack of the enemy and died on 10 September 1965 at the age of 37.

Pilot Rashid Minhas Shaheed:

Rashid Minhas was the youngest soldier among all who sacrificed his young age and life for the country. He was only 20 when he drank the sap of bravery, born on 17 February, 1951. In defense war, he was commissioned as a pilot of Air force.  Rashid Minhas was on his routine training flight when his instructor pilot seized the control of aircraft. When Rashid realized that the absconding pilot is heading toward India. He tried to regain the control of the plane but he was unable to do so he damaged the controls and forced the plane to crash 30 miles short of the border on 20 August 1971 and died. For his act he was awarded the top military honor, the Nishan-E-Haider, and became the youngest man and the only member of the Pakistan Air Force to win the award. He also became a national hero. The Pakistan Air Force base at Kamra has been renamed in his honor.

These are the few names, as there’s a long list of brave soldiers who fought till the last breath and sacrifice their life for the country. We should stand up and salute such daring souls!