WHAT MORE CAN A SOLDIER DESIRE?
(A tribute to Maj Shabir Sharif Shaheed, SJ and NH – by Col (retd) Azam Qadri)
Reviewed by Faryal Ashraf
The book “What More Can a Soldier Desire” that was recently launched by General Ashfaq Parvez in the Army Auditorium, Rawalpindi, written by one of his closest friends, Col (retd) Azam Qadri, pays tributes to the soldiers of our army and particularly eulogizes the bravery of Major Shabir Sharif (Shaheedf, Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan’s highest decorated officer.
……….Based on his letters to the author as well as information gathered from various sources the book contains wealth of details of Major Shabir Sharif’s valour and about his life in general. The uniqueness about his performance during 1965 and 1971 is that in both the wars, he was severely wounded; bullets were lodged in his body but he refused to receive medical aid while he was engaged in fighting. His valour was also recognized by the Indian army as well. He was an officer who had the honour of having won the coveted “Sword of Honour” at the Pakistan Military Academy and also had been decorated for bravery with Sitara-e-Jurrat and Nishan-e-Haider.
……….In the Pakistan-India War of 1965 he attacked an Indian gun position and knocked it out. He later got an Indian three ton truck, put a captured Indian Artillery gun behind that and evacuated his wounded comrades and captured Indian troops, after the battle of “Throti” that features in Chambb-Jaurian Sector, back to his positions. He did all that with a bullet-wounded arm. Much later he was hospitalised in CMH Kharian from where he escaped as the bullet was removed from his arm, to rejoin his battalion back in action.
……….In the War of 1971, he led his Company against a formidable Indian position, based on a water obstacle system with a high bund that the Indians prided in being impregnable. This obstacle system was replicated on the lines of famous Mussolini defence system, adopted by Gen Mussolini during the World War II. What is more remarkable is that he took the brunt of Indian might and held these positions against numerous counterattacks that were supported by tanks, artillery and air against heavy odds. He embraced Shahadat after his body was riddled with cuts, bruises and bullets. A night before embracing Shahadat, he had killed an Indian Major in a one-on-one duel, (Major Narain Singh, who was in turn decorated with India’s highest award for valour). He finally fell to an Indian tank shell, while engaging advancing Indian tanks, confirming frailty of the human body but his spirit had achieved immortality. As the Qur’an says: “Call not those who have given their lives in the way of Allah as dead; they are living but ye perceive it not” (Surah al-Baqarah: ayat 154).
……….He had strong belief and faith in Allah, as is evident from all his letters that he wrote and mentioned by his comrades. It is difficult to describe Shabir’s personality in a few terse sentences because his was a larger than life image in all respects. There are few parallels to his heroic deeds on the battlefield. Officers like Major Shabir are born leaders and exceptional human beings. He was truly a “Born Warrior”. He was in the prime of his life, just 28 years old at the time he embraced Shahadat, but what a life he lived in these 28 years? As Marcel Proust said “Do not wait for life, do not long for it. Be aware, always and at every moment that the miracle is in the here and now.” For the students of military history and those who have been reading about the great Captains of War from the west or east, here is a shining example of one, right from our very own soil and our beloved country who can rightly make us all proud and is perhaps the greatest of them all. He reveled in life that was nothing but the best, exceptional and most exemplary. As a child he excelled as an all rounder, being top in academics as well as sports. Shabir has left behind an “unparalleled legacy”, a very high benchmark of professionalism and heroism for our future generations to emulate from. The author has tried to portray some of these actions while at the same time brought to fore, his sterling qualities of “head and heart” especially for our young leaders of today and those aspiring to take up soldiering as a profession.
……….Shabir was perhaps among the finest of them all. The author requests the sons of soil and those serving the Pakistan Army to follow in the footsteps of Major Shabir Sharif like men of immortality while safeguarding the country. “The army stood by the nation, withstood all challenges – external or internal – with only one mission in mind and that is “to protect our motherland at the peril of his life.” It is this great Army that ensures that our nation gets to sleep comfortably at night while they keep a vigil round the clock. That goes for all the three services “Air Force, Army and Navy”. It is great soldiers like Shabir, who have shown what this nation means to the “Man in uniform”.
……….This book is a must read by all Pakistanis especially the younger lot and men in uniform.
