Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed

Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed was a Pakistani army officer who was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider, the highest military honour of Pakistan, for his valour in the 1958 Indo-Pakistani border skirmishes. He was born in 1914 in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, British India. He joined the British Indian Army in 1932 and was commissioned in the 16th Punjab Regiment in 1943. He served in various assignments and participated in the Second World War and the First Kashmir War. He was posted to the East Pakistan Rifles as a company commander in 1958. On 7 August 1958, he led a patrol to evict an Indian post that had encroached into Pakistani territory in the Lakshmipur area. He crawled towards the enemy bunker and lobbed a grenade, killing two Indian soldiers. He was hit by a bullet in his stomach but continued to advance and engaged in a hand-to-hand combat with the Indian commander. He managed to snatch his opponent's weapon and hit him on the head with it, killing him. He then collapsed and said to his junior officer, "I have completed my duty; the enemy is on the run." He was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries the same day. He was buried with full military honours in Burewala, Punjab. He was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Haider for his courage and sacrifice.