By The South Asia Times

In the history of our great nation, Captain Muhammad Sarwar was the first Nishan-e-Haider. He was born in 1910 in the village Singhori of Rawalpindi. His father served to the rank of Havildar in the British Indian Army. He served with distinction during WW-I and was awarded with a war medal. Since his childhood, Raja Muhammad Sarwar acquired extensive religious knowledge and was fond of reading. The people of his village named him “Sakhi Sarwar” (the generous). Piety and devotion are his chief characteristics. Other hobbies of Captain Sarwar Shaheed include hunting, horse riding, and playing football.

He started with the rank of Sepoy but his commitment and efforts rose to become a commissioned officer. He joined as a recruit in Baloch Regiment on April 15, 1929 and got his initial training from the old Baloch centre at Karachi. After independence he joined the Punjab Regiment of Pakistan Army as a Captain. Captain Sarwar served as a company commander in the Uri sector of Kashmir when he was asked to undertake an important mission against a well defended Indian position. The Indian post was to serve a base for further important operations. After landing into Srinagar the Indian Army advanced upto Uri. It was a necessity to save the Kashmiris and stop the Indian advance because Indians had plans to capture the remaining Kashmir. Young Captain Sarwar decided to volunteer for the mission.

More than eight Brigades of the Indian Army were deployed in the Uri Sector and supported by tanks and engineers. Indian posts were located at a significant height and had many LMG positions and tanks in this area that made the task more challenging. The commanding officer asked for a volunteer to launch a surprise attack against the enemy. Captain Sarwar agreed to perform the duty and planned his attack with extensive details. The essence of this mission’s success was in the element of surprise. He led the charge himself, setting an example for his company. He inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy despite the strongly fortified enemy position.

Captain Sarwar took six men along with him on the night of July 27, 1948. He crawled out of his bunker to cut the enemy’s barbed wire barrier to make way for his battalion to move through his gap for further operations. While moving close up to the enemy lines he was picked up by the Indians and received a heavy burst of enemy’s heavy machine gun fire. He however continued guiding his battalion despite being badly wounded and eventually embraced shahadat on the spot. He was awarded with the first Nishan-e-Haider in recognition for his selflessness, courage, and bravery.