|
Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed was also an elder brother of
chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif. Major General Sajjad Ali Khan, Major General Bilal and his
family members placed the floral wreath at the memorials of Major Shabbir
Sharif Shaheed.
Major Shabbir Sharif was born on April 28, 1943 in Kunjah,
Gujrat District. He was posthumously awarded ‘Nishan-e-Haider’. He is the
only person who has been awarded both highest gallantry awards –
Sitara-e-Jurat (1965 war) and Nishan-e-Haider (1971 war) – which makes him
the highest decorated soldier of Pakistan armed forces. He completed his O Levels from St. Anthony’s High School,
Lahore and while he was at Government College Lahore that he received a call
to join Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul. He was thus commissioned in Pakistan Army on April 19,
1964 and after successfully completing his training (including a receipt of
Sword of Honor) he was posted to the 6th Battalion of the Frontier Force
Regiment.
It was on December 3, 1971, that he was commanding a
company of 6 FF Regiment near Sulemanki Headworks when he was assigned the
task of capturing the high bund (ground) overlooking the Gurmukh Khera and
Beriwala villages in the Sulemanki sector. These points were defended by more than a company of
Indian Army’s Assam Regiment which was supported by a squadron of tanks. To attain his objective, Major Sharif had to go through an
enemy minefield and swim across a 30-feet wide and 10 feet deep defensive
canal, which he accomplished under heavy artillery and automatic fire. Leading his company, he launched a frontal attack and
succeeded in driving the enemy out of its fortified trenches by dusk on
December 3. A total of 43 enemy soldiers were killed in this well-nigh
superhuman action, and another 28 were taken prisoners. Moreover, four enemy
tanks were also destroyed.
|