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A Hero Called Abdul Hamid

The grit and velour of this Indian soldier forced US military hardware manufacturers to modify their tank design. Yet his legacy remains desolately unsung

From Harmandir Sahib, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, hardly 60 kilometres farther in state highway 21, lies Asal Uttar, a couple of kilometres before you reach the modest hamlet, on the wayside stands a brick red plaque, ‘Memorial of CQMH (Company Quarter Master Havildar) Abdul Hamid’. There within a walled area, a narrow pathway lined by trees and shrubs leads to the actual memorial that houses Abdul Hamid’s grave. A tablet at the grave head attests Abdul Hamid’s martyrdom for his motherland. The caretaker of the memorial says hardly anyone comes there on September 10, the death anniversary of arguably independent India’s greatest war hero, whose grit and velour had forced the US military hardware manufacturers to modify their once famous Patton tank design, eventually resulting in the replacement of M48s with M60s.

It was on December 27 in 1954 that army number 239885 Abdul Hamid was enrolled into the Grenadiers infantry regiment. Subsequently, he was posted in the fourth battalion of the regiment where he spent the rest of his service life. Initially, he was with the anti-tank section. Five years later he was promoted and made in-charge of the quartermaster stores of his company. Nevertheless, being the best shot of 106 mm recoilless rifle, the battalion commander wanted him back as NCO of the rifle platoon.

It was on September 10 in 1965, the fiercest post world war-II tank battle in memory was fought — the day Abdul Hamid died.

In early September Pakistan had launched an offensive to capture Akhnoor in Jammu. Severing the supply routes to the Indian forces at Jammu and Kashmir border and communication lines were their main intentions. India retaliated with air attacks, at the same time trying to open up a front in Punjab. On September 6 the 15th Infantry launched an offensive over the border near the west bank of Ichogil canal, but had to fall back on to Khem Karan due to astute Pakistani resistance. As a consequence, capturing the territory east of Ichogil canal and containing the attack on the Kasur-Khem Karan axis was entrusted to those sections of the fourth division, which included Abdul Hamid and comrades. The Pakistan army dug in at Ichogil and on the night of September 8 retaliated with heavy shelling and probing attacks on the Grenadiers. But the Grenadiers refused to give in. On the morning of September 10, Pakistanis intensified the attack supported by their 100-strong Patton tank regiment. After an hour-long pitched battle the Patton tanks succeeded in penetrating the Indian front lines. Abdul Hamid realised that the situation was getting out of hand. He did not wait to think twice. Amidst intense shelling and tank fire, with his gun mounted on a jeep, he moved out to another wing and disabled two leading enemy tanks. While he was trying to knock out a third tank he was mortally wounded by a high explosive shell.

It took another three days for Pakistan’s first Armoured Division, which was spear heading the attack, to find themselves in total disarray. Approximately 97 Pakistani Patton tanks were destroyed or abandoned. Abdul Hamid did not live to see the victorious end of the Battle of Asul Uttar (Befitting Response), but then he had disabled five Patton tanks single handedly, though his citation gives him credit for only three (Not many people know that social activist Anna Hazare had served in the same Division at that time transporting fire arms to the border). Less than a week later he was awarded the highest military honour, the Param Vir Charka posthumously. During the 1966 Republic Day parade, President S Radhakrishnan presented the award to Abdul Hamid’s spouse, Rasoolan Bibi.

Rasoolan Bibi now lives in a modest two-storey brick building in Dulhapur village near the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border. A garlanded framed portrait of her late husband occupies the facing wall of the living room. Abdul Hamid’s younger brother too had fought in the 1971 war with Pakistan. As a matter of fact the family’s military lineage had an earlier beginning in Abdul Hamid’s father Lance Naik Usman Faroqi.

In 2008, Rasoolan Bibi had met President Pratibha Patil with the requests for a military recruitment centre in Dulhapur, observing the day of her husband’s martyrdom at the national level and government jobs for her grandchildren.

Despite rare citations from political circles and the release of a documentary (Param Vir Chakra, 1988) and a postage stamp (January 2000), the legacy of Abdul Hamid, the war hero remains desolately unsung. In a memorial for the martyrs of the November 2008 terror attack on Mumbai, Amitabh Bachchan said the only reason why the citizens of the country are able sleep at night in peace is because the men (and women) of the forces stayed awake keeping watch ensuring that their sleep stays undisturbed. But then what have we offered in return for those who have lost everything in the process?