Thursday, February 10, 2011

3: Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed

Captain Karnal Sher joined those eight legendary heroes who received the highest military award of Nishan-i-Haider for laying down their lives in defence of the beloved motherland.
Captain Karnal Sher Khan emerged as the symbol of mettle and courage during the Kargil conflict on the Line of Control (LoC). He set personal examples of bravery and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. He defended the five strategic posts, which he established with his jawans at the height of some 17,000 feet at Gultary, and repulsed many Indian attacks.
After many abortive attempts, the enemy on July 5 ringed the post of Capt. Sher Khan with the help of two battalion and unleashed heavy mortar firing and managed to capture some part of the post. Despite facing all odds, he lead a counter-attack and re- captured the lost parts.
But during the course he was hit by the machine-gun fire and embraced Shahadat at the same post. He is the first officer from the NWFP province to be awarded with Nishan-i-Haider.

Alama Muhammad Iqbal

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (علامہ محمد اقبال / Allama Muḥammad Iqbāl; November 9, 1877 - April 21, 1938), commonly referred to as Allama Iqbāl (علامہ اقبال‎, ʿAllāma meaning "The Learned One") in Pakistan, was a Lahori Muslim poet, philosopher and politician in British India.[1] He wrote his works in Persian and Urdu.
After studying in Cambridge, Munich and Heidelberg, Iqbal established a law practice, but concentrated primarily on writing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy and religion. He is best known for his poetic works, including Asrar-e-Khudi—for which he was knightedRumuz-e-Bekhudi, and the Bang-e-Dara, with its enduring patriotic song Tarana-e-Hind. In India, he is widely regarded for the patriotic song, Saare Jahan Se Achcha. In Afghanistan and Iran, where he is known as Eghbāl-e-Lāhoorī (اقبال لاہوریIqbal of Lahore), he is highly regarded for his Persian works. Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in South Asia; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. One of the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal encouraged the creation of a "state in northwestern India for Muslims" in his 1930 presidential address.[2] Iqbal encouraged and worked closely with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and he is known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan"), Shair-e-Mashriq ("The Poet of the East"), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat ("The Sage of Ummah"). He is officially recognized as the national poet of Pakistan.[3][4][5] The anniversary of his birth (یوم ولادت محمد اقبال‎ - Yōm-e Welādat-e Muḥammad Iqbāl) is on November 9, and is a national holiday in Pakistan.
Iqbal is said to have conceived the idea of Pakistan as a separate Muslim homeland while meditating at the shrine of the famous Sufi saint Ali Hujwiri in Lahore.[6]