RAWALPINDI: The 50th martyrdom day of Sowar Muhammad Hussain Nishan e Haider is being observed today.
Sawar Muhammad Hussain and the first soldier to be awarded Nishan-e-Haider, the highest military honour. Pakistan Army has paid a glowing tribute to him for his supreme sacrifice during the 1971 war.
Sawar Muhammad Hussain was born on 18th January 1949 in Dhok Pir Bakhsh in district Attock. He joined the 20 Lancers of the Armoured Corps in September 1966 at the age of 17 years. After Sawar Hussain’s martyrdom, his village Dhok Pir Bakhsh was renamed Dhok Muhammad Hussain Janjua to commemorate his sacrifice.
Sawar Hussain was a driver from the armored Corp but he would take part in every battle his unit got engaged in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. On 5th December 1971, he delivered ammunition from one trench to another under heavy enemy fire in the Zafarwal-Shakargarh area.
On 10th December 1971, he took part in a dangerous mission and went out to fight enemy patrols. He spotted an enemy tank and directed a recoil-less rifle crew towards the tank and then later was responsible for the destruction of 16 enemy tanks. He was hit in the chest by a machine-gun fire while exposing himself as he was directing fire from rifles and was martyred.
