Book
Review
“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
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.
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