Pakistan's Kargil War hero .... how a letter from Indian Brigadier MPS Bajwa revealed his bravery first !!
After being fatally wounded in machine-gun fire during close combat, Khan lost his life on July 5.
His bravery earned him the Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan's highest military honour, posthumously.
After the Indian Army captured Tiger Hill, Captain Sher Khan's body was recovered and identified through documents he was carrying. But it wasn't until Indian Brigadier Bajwa acknowledged his bravery that Pakistan recognised him and posthumously awarded him the Nishan-e-Haider.
"Yes, Captain Karnal Sher Khan of 9 NLI (Pakistan) fought against my unit (8 SIKH) at Tiger Hill, but Pakistan refused to take his body. The appreciation of his bravery was written by me and paper inserted in his pocket. Subsequently he was given the highest gallantry award," Brigadier Bajwa (retired) wrote on X in 2019.
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| snap credit - 'India Today' |
Pakistan, in fact, had initially refused to accept his body, revealed an Indian press release from 1999.
"The callousness and inhumanity with which they [the Pakistani forces] are persisting in this fiction is demonstrated in the current matter concerning the bodies of two officers of the Pakistan Army who had died in action on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kargil.
The body of Captain Imtiaz Malik of 165 Mortar Regiment was found at Point 4875 in the Mushkoh sub-sector. The body of Captain Karnal Sher of 12 Northern Light Infantry was found on Tiger Hill in the Dras sub-sector.
The identities of these two officers were established by correspondence found on their persons. Both bodies are in the possession of the Indian Army authorities," the Indian Government said on July 15, 1999.
As Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, along with the top military brass, paid tribute to Kargil War hero, Captain Karnal Sher Khan, on his 26th martyrdom anniversary, it's worth remembering that it was an Indian Brigadier's letter that first ensured Khan's bravery didn't go unrecognised.
Pakistan had initially in 1999 disowned Sher Khan and refused to claim his body from Indian soil.
On Saturday, the Pakistani Army and the government marked the 26th martyrdom anniversary of Captain Karnal Sher Khan with military honours at his tomb in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Field Marshal Munir, alongside senior military officials and Sher Khan's family, paid tribute to the Kargil war hero who was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Haider.
"During the Kargil conflict in 1999, Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed, a symbol of unwavering courage and patriotism, sacrificed his life while defending the motherland with unparalleled valour. He remains an eternal source of inspiration for the Armed Forces and the nation," Pakistan's DG-ISPR posted on X on Munir's visit to Khan's village.
During the 1999 Kargil War, Karnal Sher Khan of the Pakistani Army served as a Captain with the 12th Northern Light Infantry. At 17,000 feet in Gultari, Khan was leading his unit when the Indian Army launched a fierce counterattack to take over Tiger Hill, a strategic post.
Two Indian Army battalions, with machine guns and artillery support, launched a fierce assault to claim the strategic heights, to push back the intruders in what came to be one of the bloodiest battles of the Kargil War. Captain Sher Khan's unit was heavily outnumbered.
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