Shabbir Sharif Major Shabbir Sharif Rana ( Urdu : شبیر شریف رانا ; born 28 April 1943 ) was a Pakistani officer who received both the Sitara - e - Jurat and Nishan - e - Haider for his bravery . Early life and military career . Sharif was born 28 April 1943 in Kunjah , Gujrat District ) to Major ( r ) Muhammad Sharif . Completed his O Levels from St . Anthony ' s High School , Lahore and while he was at Government College Lahore that he received a call to join Pakistan Military Academy ( PMA ) Kakul . He was commissioned in Pakistan Army on 19 April 1964 and after successfully completing his training , including a receipt of Sword of Honor , he was posted to the 6th Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment . Other . His younger brother Lt . General Raheel Sharif is currently serving as Corps Commander Gujranwala in Pakistan Army . Attack on Gurmakhera Bridge . The General Headquarters ( GHQ ) in Rawalpindi launched an attack on India from the western front ( West Pakistan ) on 3 December 1971 . The primary purpose of the attack was to force India on transferring their military strength in East Pakistan to the West , easing pressure on the East . Before the transfer , it was expected that the West Pakistani forces would gather enough territory to negotiate with India after the war for areas in the East . It was also expected that if the Western front attack was successful , it would cause India to pull out of the war due to severe loss of territory . While the Pakistani attack commenced in the localities of Azad Kashmir , Chamb , Sulemanki , the area inclusive and surrounding Shakargarh ( Pakistan ) and Rahim Yar Khan , was to be defended . During a defensive posture , the army in this area was supposed to facilitate the launch of the Army Reserves , a 5 Division strong section of the Pakistan Army which was commanded by Lt . Gen . Tikka Khan . Even at Solemanki , two companies ( 100 men each ) of 6 Frontier Force , one commanded by Sharif , were initially supposed to make the attack by the Army Reserves possible by making sure that a certain obstacle was removed . The obstacle was created by India to prevent Pakistani forces from penetrating into Indian territory . They had created an artificial ridge ( small mountain ) , steep on the Pakistani side , but with a low inclination towards the Indian side . This was to prevent the Pakistani forces from easily climbing up the ridge , whereas the Indians could do so with ease . Result being that the Indians could get an aerial advantage over Pakistan . In front of the ridge on the Pakistani side , there was also a river dug up . This was to slow down the Pakistani forces and also to prevent any tanks or heavy artillery from entering Indian territory . There were only two bridges which were making any vehicular movement across the river / ridge possible and India was controlling them both . Inside the ridge there were camouflaged cemented bunkers which would enable the Indians to fire on any Pakistani troops . It was extremely important for Pakistan to neutralize this ridge , for it would not only pave the way for the Pakistani attack , but it would also make sure that the Indians themselves cannot attack through this area . The ridge was called Saboona Ridge , and the bridge attacked was called Gurmakhera Bridge . At 5 : 45 PM , 3 December 1971 Sharif launched the attack against Gurmakhera Bridge . Before reaching the bridge Shabir ' s men had to pass next to the Indian village of Beriwala . This village was reasonably well protected by the Indian Army , and they had also installed landmine s in the region next to it for the inconvenience of bypassing troops . Bravo Company knew that there were landmines in the region , but a safe route through was not known . In practice , Bravo company passed through this area safely . When the company reached the bridge , Farooq Afzal was given the task to take a few men and launch the initial attack . Afzal hence departed from the rest of the party and took a few men closer to the bridge . Two Indian soldiers could be seen standing in front of the bridge . When the Pakistani soldiers killed these men , they were surprised by fire from camouflaged Indian bunkers overlooking the bridge , two of which had the entire bridge area under their firing range . The Indians burst fire upon the Pakistan soldiers hence retarding their progress . After asking Sharif by radio to provide him with covering fire , Afzal decided to attack the bridge from the front despite the Indian firepower . Breaking up his men into a group of three , he told them to attack with the slogan of Allah O Akbar , basically to distract the Indians from three different sides , hoping that at least one of the three would crawl up to the bridge and reach the area directly beneath the bunkers , where the Indian guns could not reach . The plan was successful , but in the process 6 Pakistani soldiers were killed . Having reached directly beneath the two bunkers which were covering the bridge , the Pakistani soldiers took them down by lobbing hand grenades inside . Once the two bunkers were neutralized , Sharif and his men joined Afzal . It was time to destroy the rest of the bunkers . An intense battle developed as the Pakistani soldiers started raiding the bunkers . In some cases where the Indian soldiers finished their ammunition , they started throwing out their wireless sets on the Pakistanis . Hand to hand combat was also seen occasionally , while in a few cases the Indians ran away , leaving their supplies behind . The most common scene , however , was one in which grenades were lobbed out , and if the Pakistanis survived they would in turn lob one back in . Sharif also had to clear two bunkers himself . While at the first one , he stood next to the bunker and called out the personnel inside to come out . The usual happened and a grenade was tossed out . Sharif , without being able to see properly due to the darkness , reached out , got hold of the explosive , and threw it back inside , stunning the two other men who were neutralizing the bunkers with him . This action was to become the topic of discussion in the entire company for the next two to three hours , and he was unfairly criticised later for being too close to the bunkers in the first place . However , if Sharif hadn ' t done this , he would have lost his right arm and leg at least . The second bunker was cleared without any daredevil tricks . The entire operation of clearing the bunkers and taking control of the Saboona Ridge took 30 minutes . Shabir then took out the signal gun and fired a success signal straight up in the air . The other companies were now aware that Sharif and his men had taken control of the Gurmakhera Bridge and the Saboona Ridge . The other companies were to proceed with their attacks , one of which involved capturing the Beriwala village that Sharif had bypassed earlier . It was pitch dark . Sharif and a few men started collecting the bodies of the Pakistani soldiers who had died in the assault . Digging of new bunkers , this time on the opposite side of the ridge than the one facing Pakistan also began simultaneously . It was at that time that an old man ' s voice was heard from a distance . " We need to go back to Gurmakhera village . The Pakistanis have attacked Beriwala . " Shabbir went closer to the old man . The man could not recognize the Pakistani army uniform due to the darkness . He believed he was talking to an Indian soldier . " I brought my son ' s barat ( wedding procession ) to Beriwala in the afternoon . The Pakistanis have captured the village . We had to run during the rukhsati ( last ritual of the wedding ) . " " Don ' t you know that there is a war going on ? " Shabbir asked in Punjabi . " This is a silly time to have a wedding , that too when you are so close to the border . " " Please protect us . I have a whole procession with me here . Even the girl ' s family is here . We need to get back to our village . The Pakistanis are coming in this direction . " Sharif decided not to waste time , or unnecessarily panic the old fellow . " We will take care of the Pakistanis . You hurry up and get all your people across . And listen to the radio more frequently for any important announcements . " He then called alerted all of his people manning the positions at the bridge that a wedding procession was going to be passing through , and there should be no fire on it . While the procession was crossing over the ridge , a soldier asked Sharif : " Sir . These people are legitimate POWs . Why are we letting them cross ? " Shabbir smiled . " Have a heart soldier . This is the happiest day of their lives . Let ' s not make them spend it inside a cell . " When the news of the Pakistani attack reached the opposing brigade commander , Brig . Surjeet Singh , he immediately ordered the Delta company of 4 Jat Regiment ( 150 men ) , and a squadron of T - 54 tanks to recapture the lost land , specifically the Saboona Ridge and the Gurmakhera Bridge . Although the number of soldiers in the attacking force was more than Shabbir ' s men , it was the lack of any armour ( tanks ) on the Pakistani side that made this move appear to be extremely threatening . At 11 : 00 PM , one of Shabbir ' s men informed him that he could hear tanks approaching the Gurmakhera Bridge . After Shabbir himself confirmed the noises , he positioned his rocket launchers near the bridge . There were three rocket launchers at his disposal , and two men were required to man each one . There was also some ammunition that had been taken from the defeated Indian forces on the ridge . Two of the rocket launchers were placed in such a manner that the tanks would have to go past them before they could come near the Gurmakhera Bridge or the Saboona Ridge . The third was positioned near Shabbir , to be used as a back up in case the first two failed . When the tanks eventually came in pitch darkness , Shabbir was stunned to see that they passed by the first two positions without any fire from the Pakistani soldiers . Shabbir immediately called the men through wireless , and asked them why they didn ' t shoot ? " Sir , these are Pakistani tanks , " a soldier replied from the other side . " No they are not , " Shabbir screamed , " Why would our tanks come from the side of the other bridge ? That is not in Pakistani control . And I have not been informed of their arrival either from our headquarter . Shoot ! " Despite the clarification , there was so much confusion amongst the ranks that no one fired . Shabbir knew that if these had been Pakistani tanks they would have crossed over the ridge 3 km to the West and come as a reinforcement on the Indian side . He got hold of the rocket launcher which was near him , and fired at one of the tanks . When the tank caught flames and illuminated the scene , Sikhs were seen coming out of it . It was at that time that the entire Pakistani force started firing on the Indians . The Indian foot soldiers were closer to the tanks , and they could be easily spotted due to the flames and also due to the aerial advantage that the Pakistani forces had . From the initial 14 tanks that were ordered to attack , only 8 had managed to reach the bridge , and 4 of them had been destroyed in the first 5 minutes of the battle . The others too were safe only because they were out of range of the rocket launchers and Anarga grenades ( mounted on G3 rifles ) which were at the disposal of the Pakistanis . These adverse circumstances made anything else but the Indian retreat a nonviable option . During this skirmish , 10 Pakistanis were killed and 13 injured , while on the Indian side there were 43 killed , numerous injured and 10 were made POWs , including an officer . Despite the victory , Sharif knew that this was only the beginning , and that having invested so much time in the development of the ridge , the Indians would definitely try to retake it . He immediately contacted the battalion headquarters and asked for further ammunition and landmines . Another mystery surrounding the situation was why the Indians had not blown away Gurmakhera Bridge , which is usual in such war conditions . Around 4 : 00 AM , an ammunition jeep arrived at the site . There were no confusions on this occasion about its origin . In between , there had been a small attack on Sharif and his positions , but had been easily repulsed as the Indians were much less in number , and there were no tanks involved . When day broke , a search was carried out to find out any Indian soldiers hiding in the captured area . 55 men were rounded up , 3 being officers . Add to these the 10 POWs captured the last night , and Shabbir now had 65 POWs in all . " We should organize a party that escorts them back to our headquarters , " an officer suggested to Shabbir . " It is a long walk . Plus I need every one of my men to be here . No point in unnecessarily tiring my men , " Shabbir replied . " But they have to be sent back , we cannot keep an eye on them over here forever . " After a quiet moment , Shabbir said to the officer : " Ask them to take off their shoes " " What ? Shoes ? " exclaimed the officer in confusion . " What are we going to do with their shoes ? " " Have you ever tried to walk in this area without your shoes ? " Shabbir asked . " I have , and I tell you , it is next to impossible to go far without them . Firstly you cannot run very fast , and chances of getting serious injuries on the foot are very high . " The officer assembled all the Indian POWs , and asked them to take off their shoes . " They will try to run in any case , " the officer privately remarked to Shabbir . " Yes I know , " Shabbir said , " I will take care of that as well . " He then addressed the Indians . " Listen , you see that tree . You will make a line , put your hands above your heads and run to that tree . Our headquarter is over there . Tell them that you will have been sent by Shabbir Sharif . Now , if anyone tries to run away , or break away from the line , I will shoot him and also the man in front and behind him . From this height I will be able to see all that is happening . If everyone starts running at the same time , I will ask my men here to take part in some duck shooting and we will shoot all . So do not push me . " The POWs reached the headquarters without any escort . None tried to escape . Once the POWs had been sent back , Shabbir ' s men searched the bunkers thoroughly . A wireless set was found , and although it had fixed frequency , the Indians had forgotten to change it during the attack . This gave a tremendous advantage to Shabbir , as he could now listen to the plans that were being made on the Indian side to recapture Gurmakhera Bridge . The other interesting item that was found was a bundle of Indian currency . This was perhaps the salary that was to be distributed amongst the Indian soldiers but had not been done so due to the Pakistani attack . Shabbir ordered the currency to be sent back to the headquarters so that they could give it back after the war , although due to the lack of firewood , a small amount of the currency was burnt to make tea . At 8 : 30 PM on 4 December 1971 , the Indians ( 4 Jat Regiment ) attacked again with a squadron of T - 54 tanks . Shabbir knew that they were coming , courtesy the wireless set that had been captured . He was also in a much better position ammunition wise , with now having 102 millimeter anti tank guns , and landmines . The fight took place for only 30 minutes , with the Indians retreating with 14 dead , 21 injured and 8 MIA s . The Pakistani side suffered minor injuries but no casualty . Having suffered three defeats in their effort to retake the Gurmakhera Bridge or the Saboona Ridge , the Indians finally launched a major attack on Shabbir ' s men on the night of 5 Dec 1971 . This attack had the support of 4 Jat and 3 Assam regiments , and T - 54 tanks amidst heavy artillery shelling . This was the biggest attack to date on the site , with around 800 men from the Indian side being involved . A company commander from the 4 Jat Regiment , Major Narayan Singh , had sworn before going on this attack that he would either retake the bridge , or would never return . Narayan Singh was also interested in defeating Shabbir Sharif , as for the last two days he had been hearing from his own men that the Pakistani side had a very tough commander with them ( something which Singh could not afford to have if he was to keep the morale of his men high ) . While the battle was going on , Narayan Singh , with a few men , came very close to Shabbir ' s position . " Where is Shabbir Sharif ? " he called out , " If he has the courage , he should come out right now and face me like a man . " Shabbir Sharif , being as hot headed as Singh , left his position and jumped in front of him upon the call . Perhaps Narayan Singh could not make out that it was Shabbir Sharif , as it was very dark , and he lobbed a grenade in his direction . The grenade exploded a few feet away from Shabbir , and his shirt caught fire . A few Pakistani soldiers also came out and tried to put out the fire , as Shabbir himself was only obsessed with Narayan Singh ' s call . Seeing the Pakistani soldiers coming out , some of the Indians accompanying Singh were about to open fire when Singh stopped them . " No firing , " he said , " This is a man - to - man fight . " Shabbir too , for his part , told his men to step back . The fire on his shirt had been extinguished . Both the Indian and Pakistani soldiers stepped back , but at the same time never took their guns off each other , or their fingers off the triggers . A hand to hand combat followed between Sharif and Singh . The soldiers in the direct vicinity were standing close by as armed spectators . The rest of the soldiers , on the ridge , were at the same time involved in the fierce battle that was taking place due to the Indian attack . Singh had his sten gun in his hand , and Shabbir held his wrist to prevent him from firing . After a short struggle , Shabbir managed to throw Singh on the ground and put his knee on his chest . Taking the sten gun from his hand , he emptied it in Singh ' s chest . While the Pakistani soldiers came to Sharif to check whether he was alright , those accompanying Singh disappeared in the darkness . The attack subsided yet again in an Indian retreat , although this was done after testing Shabbir ' s men to their fullest of capabilities . During this attack , there were 3 killed and 11 injured on the Pakistan side , while there were 19 killed , 45 injured , and 34 taken as POWs on the Indian side . 9 Indian tanks were also destroyed in this attack by the Pakistani artillery shelling and anti tank guns ( 2 or 3 of these tanks were rendered useless for they got stuck in the land before they were taken out ) . Later , it was revealed that Major Narayan Singh was given Vir Chakra by India , a medal that is equivalent to the Pakistani Sitara - e - Jurrat , for his performance on the battlefield in 1971 . Shabbir ' s right shoulder was badly burnt due to the fire that he had caught while fighting with Singh . When asked by one of his subordinates to go back and get some treatment , he said : " I didn ' t leave men fighting on the battlefield when I was not responsible for them . This time around I am their commander . Do you think I am going to go back leaving these men who I am supposed to command ? " He was referring to the 1965 war , when he , as an ordinary Lieutenant , had been injured severely in the arm . Having gone back to the hospital to treatment , his arm was put in plaster and he was told that he could not take part in the war anymore . He , however , escaped from the hospital and went to the battlefront , where he fought the rest of the war with one arm in plaster ! The 5 December attack created a lot of despondency amongst the Indian forces . Terming it a crisis , both GOC Major Gen . Ram Singh , and his Artillery Advisor G . S . Rain took effective charge from Brigadier Surjeet Singh . The Indians attacked yet again at 11 : 00 AM on 6 December 1971 . Shabbir was manning a 102 millimeter gun when a tank fired in his direction . He fired back at the tank and took it out . With a second tank lurking nearby , Shabbir could have abandoned the gun and saved his own life . He instead decided to keep firing at the tank in an attempt to render it useless before it caused any further damage . However , the tank ' s shell landed only inches away from Shabbir and exploded , throwing Shabbir and two other Pakistani soldiers 5 feet up in the air . Shabbir died seconds after he fell on the ground . His last words were : " Don ' t lose the bridge . " Having seen Shabbir dead , the Pakistani soldiers fought with even more vigor , more out of revenge than for anything else . The Indian attack was beaten back , but at a grave cost . One of the bravest soldiers in the history of the Pakistan army had died . He was given the country ' s highest gallantry award , Nishan - e - Haider for his actions and eventual sacrifice for his country . This is perhaps the only case in Nishan - e - Haider history , where the gallantry award was given , not for a specific act , but for his inspiring performance throughout the war , until he died . After the War , one of the Indian commanders , Col . Shashi Pal , came to the headquarters in the Pakistan area for talks . He was given the currency that Shabbir had sent back from the bunkers , with due apologies for the currency that had been burnt for making tea . Shashi Pal shook his head slightly and said , " Politics apart , he was a fine soldier . " Later it was also found out that the Indians did have the explosives in place to blow up Gurmakhera Bridge . But the remote detonation had not worked for one reason or the other . Further developments . There were a number of attacks on Saboona Ridge and Gurmakhera Bridge by the Indians between 6 December and 8 December which were repulsed . Pakistani soldiers also captured Gurmakhera village and successfully defended it against an Indian attack on 15 – 16 December 1971 . The army high command for some unknown reason was totally numb . They could not take the decision to attack through the Army Reserves , and take advantage of a situation that Sharif and his men had created for them till 5 December . Even the brigade and corps commanders of the Solemanki sector suggested an attack to GHQ , but it took the high command three days just to review and reject it . They have been duly condemned for this hesitancy in the Hamood ur Rehman Report . The reversal during the Longewala , Shakargarh and Sialkot sectors also meant that most of the Army Reserve troops had to be sent to replenish those forces which had been on the losing side . Hence depleted , it was never in a position to attack . Another problem that the GHQ mentioned for their inaction was the lack of coordination between the Air Force and the Army , and also between 2 Corps and 4 Corps which were operating in this area ( 2 Corp was supposed to attack India ) . General Niazi ' s incorrect reports being sent from East Pakistan from 6 December onwards could also have made the GHQ think that perhaps it was pointless to attack India if Niazi could not hold on to East Pakistan . After all , the point of the Western Theatre attack was to diminish Indian forces in the East , and also to make them retreat out of that territory . General Niazi was later recommended for court martial in the Hamood ur Rehman report . The recommendation , however , has not been carried out as yet . Other accomplishments . He is the only person to have been awarded both the Sitara - e - Jurrat and Nishan - e - Haider , although they were given on separate occasions .