'Both Abdul Hamid and the enemy tank place each other in their sights and shoot. Both shells hit their targets. There is a loud blast, fire and smoke.' 'Hamid doesn't get time to jump off. A deafening blast follows and then there is complete silence.' 'Abdul Hamid is dead. He has destroyed a total of seven enemy tanks, many more than what an armoured formation could take on.'
10 Heroes of the 1965 War which ended on September 23 60 years ago.
In super-human acts of valour, Havildar Abdul Hamid personally knocked out five tanks over two days, effectively derailing the enemy offensive in the 1965 Indo-Pak War. 'Decades later, I realised not only how much the nation owed to this great son of India but also that my entire family was probably alive thanks to him,' says Vijay Dandapani.
On January 23, the N D Modi government named 21 uninhabited islands in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar after recipients of Param Vir Chakra, the country's highest wartime gallantry award.
In a ceremony on Monday on the occasion of Parakram Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi named the 21 largest unnamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar after Param Vir Chakra awardees.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday hosted a high tea for 1965 war veterans in the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex as the country celebrated the golden jubilee of the war with Pakistan.
The government has decided to name 21 uninhabited islands in the Union territory of Andaman & Nicobar after recipients of Param Vir Chakra, the country's highest wartime gallantry award.
For the second successive year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with troops on Wednesday, saying the world looks at India with respect because of their valour and "character", in comments that come against the backdrop of protests by several veterans over OROP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday visited Shauryanjali, a military exhibition to mark the golden jubilee of Indo-Pak War of 1965, and said that the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces during the war would remain etched in every Indian's memory.
'News is rife that Pakistan will attack the next day. They have no idea that this is where they will take on the might of 1 Armoured Division of Pakistan in a three-day bloody battle that will be remembered in military history as the Battle of Asal Uttar.' Rachna Bisht Rawat salutes the brave men turned the tide of the '65 war.
'Ours is a diverse culture and we ought to respect each other's customs. People must not be coerced into exhibiting their patriotism in one particular way'
'Mulk questions the very principle, of good-Muslim exceptionalism.' 'That, of course, we adore Abdul Hamid, A P J Abdul Kalam and Bismillah Khan and if only more Muslims were like them.' 'Anubhav Sinha sticks his neck out to say that these are no exceptions.' 'Most Muslims are like them. It is the terrorists who are exceptions,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Hayde was awarded the Mahavir Chakra, the second highest honour in battle, for winning an epic battle in Pakistan. In a brilliant and gruesome assault, what he and his men achieved that September 50 years ago had never been seen before.
In spite of being wounded in battle, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore fought for six days before meeting a hero's death on the battlefield in the 1965 war. A legend in the Indian Army, he is the highest ranking officer to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
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