Sowar Sowar (, also sawar or siwar meaning "the one who rides" or "rider", from Persian language, Persian , from the Sasanian Empire, Sasanid Middle Persian, Persian Aswaran, Aswār, from the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Old Persian, Persian Asabār ...

Muhammad Hussain Janjua , ( Punjabi, ; 18 January 1949 – 10 December 1971) was a Pakistani soldier and the 8th recipient of Pakistan's highest military award, the

Nishan-e-Haider Nishan-e-Haider (NH; or 'Emblem of the Lion') is the highest military gallantry award of Pakistan. The Nishan-e-Haider is awarded only to members of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It recognises the highest acts of extraordinary bravery in the f ...

, and the only soldier of the

Pakistan Armoured Corps The Pakistan Army Armoured Corps is a Military administration, military administrative and combined arms service Military branch, branch of the Pakistan Army. Headquartered in Nowshera Cantonment, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ...

to be given this award. He is known for destroying 16 tanks with a

recoilless rifle A Recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "rr" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some fo ...

in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.

Early life

Hussain was born in the village of Dhok Pir Bakhsh into a Punjabi Janjua Rajput family on 18 January 1949 to Roz Ali, a farmer.

Personal life

Hussain was married to Arzan Bibi and had two children. At the time of his death, his daughter was a little over two years old and his son Munawar Hussain, was three months old. Sowar Hussain did not have a chance to see his son due to not getting leave and Hussain died before his son's birth.

Military career

He enlisted into the

as a Driver on 3 September 1966 at the age of 17 and later joined the 20th Lancers on 23 May 1967. Although he was a Driver in the

Armoured Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other arm ...

, he would take part in every battle his unit got engaged in during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. On 5 December 1971, in the Zafarwal- Shakargarh area, he crawled from trench to trench under heavy enemy fire to deliver ammunition.

Death

On 10 December 1971, he took part in a dangerous mission and went out for reconnaissance and to fight enemy patrols. During reconnaissance, near the village Harar Khurd he spotted enemy tanks and on his own initiative, directed a recoil-less rifle crew towards the enemy and destroyed 16 enemy tanks. He was hit in the chest by a burst of machine-gun fire and killed while directing fire from recoilless rifles. After his death, his father proudly said "My son received bullets on his chest like a lion"

Naib Risaldar Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kings of Saxony to the Ge ...

Ali Nawab and

Lance daffadar Lance daffadar (L/Dfdr, LD or L/Duf) is the equivalent rank to corporal in Pakistan, Indian and British Indian Army cavalry units, ranking between acting lance daffadar and daffadar Daffadar ( Hindustani: दफ़ादार (Devanagari) ; (N ...

Abdur Rehman picked up his body from the battlefield.

Burial

Hussain was buried in a makeshift military graveyard in Shakargar but his body was later excavated and buried in his native village of Dhok Pir Bakhsh.

Memorials

After Sawar Hussain's death, his village Dhok Pir Bakhsh was renamed Dhok Muhammad Hussain to commemorate his sacrifice. It is also referred to as Dhok

due to Hussain being a receiver of the award. Sawar Muhamad Hussain Shaheed Boys Hostel was established in October 1992 to give free education to male children of

Shaheed ''Shahid'' ( , , ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the latter sense acqui ...

, deceased, war wounded and retired/serving junior commissioned officers and soldiers of the

who were appointed on merit. When the school was established, the number of students was 40 and rose to 82. Students from

year six Year 6 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including Japan, most of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the sixth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between ten and eleven. It is genera ...

to intermediate are eligible for admission into the hostel. All expenses such as boarding, lodging, medical treatment, books, stationery, school and extra coaching fee, etc., are paid by the Armoured Corps Centre.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Sowar Hussain Shaheed
ispr.gov.pk {{DEFAULTSORT:Janjua, Sawar Muhammed Hussain 1949 births 1971 deaths Recipients of Nishan-e-Haider Pakistan Army personnel People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistani military personnel killed in action People from Gujar Khan People from Rawalpindi District 20th-century Pakistani military personnel Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 People of the Bangladesh Liberation War Pakistan Army officers Pakistan Armoured Corps officers