Tufail Mohammad

{{Short description|Military officer in Pakistan army}} {{Use American English|date=March 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Major | name = Tufail Mohammad | honorific_suffix = NH | image = Maj. Mohammad Tufail.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = The portrait of Maj. Tufail Mohammad (1914–1958) | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Tufail Mohammad | other_name = | nickname = ''Fateh-i-Lakshmipur'' {{small|Eng. Lit.: (Victor of Lakshmipur)}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|07|22|df=y}}<ref name="Imran Saeed, Flickr, 2012">{{cite web |last=Saeed |first=Imran |title=Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed - Inscription on Tufail Gate |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/meemainseen/7594797152/in/photolist-qj6jN2-5jpmhy-5jvkAN-cz8jAu-78NCjs-5jwxBh-5jjtga-5jpmgQ-5jvkBf-bsJNCU-HeWkQM-GDr45J-5jpmgy/lightbox/ |website=www.flickr.com |publisher=Imran Saeed, Flickr |accessdate=7 March 2019 |location=Burewala, Punj. Pakistan |language=ur |date=27 May 2012}}</ref> | birth_place = Hoshiarpur, Punjab Province, British India | death_date = {{Death date and age|1958|08|07|1914|07|22|df=y}} | death_place = Dowarabazar, East Pakistan, Pakistan<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mindat.org/feature-1186950.html|work=Mindat.org|title=Lakhsmipur}}</ref> | burial_place = Burewala, Punjab, Pakistan | burial_label = | burial_coordinates =  | allegiance = {{flag icon|British India}} British India {{small|(1932–1947)}} {{PAK}} {{small|(1947–1958)}} | branch = {{army|British India}} {{army|PAK}} {{flagicon image|বর্ডার গার্ড বাংলাদেশের পতাকা.svg}} East Pakistan Rifles | branch_label = Branch/service | service_years = 1932–1958 | service_years_label = | rank = 20px Major | rank_label = | service_number = PA-1224 | unit = 15px 16th Punjab Regiment Punjab Regiemnt | commands = | battles = World War II First Kashmir War 1958 East Pakistan-India border clashes{{KIA}} | battles_label = | awards = 50px Nishan-e-Haider | memorials = | spouse = Niaz Bibi | children = Naseem Akhtar (Daughter) Azmat Akhtar (grandson) | relations = | other_work = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | website = | module = }}

Major '''Tufail Mohammad''' ({{langx|ur|{{nq|طفیل محمد}}}}; b. 22 June 1914{{spaced ndash}} 7 August 1958{{rp|26}}<ref name="Senate Secretariat, 2019"/>), {{small|'''NH''',}} was a Pakistani military officer and the third recipient of Pakistan's highest military award, the Nishan-e-Haider ({{small|''Eng. Trans.: Emblem of the Lion''}}) for his actions of valor during the 1958 East Pakistan-India border clashes.<ref name="Army ISPR">{{cite web |last1=Pakistan Army Official |first1=staff writer |title=Major Tufail Muhammad |url=https://pakistanarmy.gov.pk/Major-Tufail-Mohammad |accessdate=7 Aug 2023 |website=www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/ |publisher=Army ISPR}}</ref>

==Biography==

=== Early life === Tufail Mohammad was born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, during the British Raj, into a Gurjar Punjabi family on 22 June 1914 according to his gravestone markings.{{rp|45}}<ref name="Globe, Mahmood, 2000">{{cite book |title=Globe: Major Tufail Mohammad |date=2000 |publisher=A. Mahmood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVtnAAAAMAAJ&q=+Hoshiarpur |accessdate=6 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> He was educated at the D.A.V. College in Jalandhar.<ref name="Imran Saeed, Flickr, 2012"/>

=== Military career === In 1932, he enlisted in the Indian Army and was trained at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun in 1941. He was commissioned into the 1st Battalion of the 16th Punjab Regiment (1/16th) in 1943.{{rp|45}}<ref name="Globe, Mahmood, 2000" /> Attached to the Punjab Regiment, he served on the training assignments to the Punjab Regiment. After the Partition of India, his regiment was transferred to the Pakistan Army and he served in administrative positions in the Punjab Regiment between 1947 and 1958.<ref name="Imran Saeed, Flickr, 2012"/> From 1947 to 1954, he was later deputed by the federal government to the provincial governments to serve as an advisor and trainer to the law enforcement agencies before permanently dispatched to the East Pakistan Rifles in 1954.<ref name="google sites, mansoor">{{cite web |last1=Mansoor |first1=Haq |title=MAJOR TUFAIL MUHAMMAD SHAHEED - Nishan-e-Hyder |url=https://sites.google.com/site/nishanehyder/home/2major-tufail-muhammad-shaheed |website=sites.google.com |publisher=google sites, mansoor |accessdate=6 March 2019}}</ref>

His career in the military mostly served with the East Pakistan Rifles where he served as the commanding officer of the military company near the Indo-East Pakistani border.<ref name="Army ISPR"/> In 1957, Indian army troops crossed the Border, and occupied the village of Lakshmipur located at Dowarabazar of Sylhet District in then East Pakistan.<ref name="Dunya News, Webdesk, 2015"/> Responding to the infiltration, Major Tufail was ordered to form three quick response teams to launch an attack on three sides on the resting Indian Army battalion.<ref name="Dunya News, Webdesk, 2015">{{cite news |title=Completed my duty, enemy on the run: Major Tufail Shaheed's last words |url=http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/292353-Completed-my-duty-enemy-on-the-run-Major-Tufail- |accessdate=6 March 2019 |work=Dunya News |date=7 August 2015}}</ref>

==== 1958 border clashes ==== On 7 August 1958, Major Tufail made a slow quadrupedal movement towards the Indian Army posts and engaged in a firefight with the enemy forces as close as 15 yards in an attempt to make them withdraw from their positions.<ref name="google sites, mansoor"/> Leading attack team from the back side of the post while other two teams engaged the enemy from front and right sides,<ref name="google sites, mansoor"/> Major Tufail was the first casualty who sustained the injury from the upcoming fire inside the bunker, and threw a grenade at the near post, that killed the enemy machine gunners.<ref name="google sites, mansoor"/> Inside the bunker, the mortally wounded Major Tufail had to engage in a close quarters battle with the Indian Army soldiers, eventually taking out the machine gunners that were targeting the Pakistan Army soldiers on the front side by throwing grenades and engaging with machine guns.<ref name="google sites, mansoor"/>

His actions of valor reportedly saved many Pakistan Army soldiers when he led the attacking team from the back side of the battalion bunker as the Indian Army soldiers were driven out retreated to their original positions, leaving four dead and three of their personnel behind, who were taken as the war prisoners.{{rp|26}}<ref name="Senate Secretariat, 2019">{{cite web |last1=Senate of Pakistan |first1=Senate |title=Tribute to the Recipients of Nishan-e-Haider |url=http://www.senate.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1365092084_437.pdf |website=www.senate.gov.pk |publisher=Senate Secretariat |accessdate=7 March 2019 |location=Islamabad, Pakistan |pages=132 |language=en-us |date=2012}}</ref> Despite receiving immediate medical attention, Major Tufail himself succumbed to his wounds and quoted his last word to his junior officer: "''I have completed my duty; the enemy is on the run''."<ref name="Dunya News, Webdesk, 2015" />{{rp|26}}<ref name="Senate Secretariat, 2019"/> On 7 August 1958, Major Tufail succumbed to his wounds– he was 43–44 years old at the time of his death.{{rp|26}}<ref name="Senate Secretariat, 2019"/>

{{Gallery |width=100 |height=200 |align=left ||mode=nolines|noborder=no|Nishan-e-Haider}}

Major Tufail was buried in Burewala, Punjab in Pakistan, and the federal government later built a marble tomb in 1967.{{rp|38}}<ref name="Ferozsons Limited"/> In 1993, he was subjected to a biographical war telefilm, "''Major Tufail Mohammad Shaheed''" produced and directed by the Qasim Jilali of the PTV.<ref>{{cite web |title=Drama Serial Nishan-e-Haider "Major Tufail Mohammad Shaheed" Pakistan Army (Complete) | website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmeeIcYP9Cw |accessdate=7 March 2019 |date=8 September 2012}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

In 1967, he was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Haider by President Ayub Khan, becoming the third officer to receive the award.{{rp|38}}<ref name="Ferozsons Limited">{{cite book |title=The Pakistan Review |date=1967 |publisher=Ferozsons Limited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmXVAAAAMAAJ&q=awarded |accessdate=7 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|26}}<ref name="Senate Secretariat, 2019"/>

The Presidential Nishan-e-Haider citation on his grave is written in Urdu, and it reads, with translation, as:

'''Citation:'''

After the establishment of Pakistan, Tufail Muhammad served with distinction in the 13th Punjab, leading to promotion to Major. In 1958, the Maj. Tufail was affiliated with the East Pakistan Rifles and was trusted as the commanding officer of the quick response teams of the close quarters combat to liberate Lakshmipur by undertaking the mission. Success of these efforts came with the display of the tremendous courage despite being mortally wounded while being under fire.

The "Green and White Flag with the Star and Crescent" was hoisted by the troops in Lakshmipur in East-Pakistan. On 7 August 1958, Maj. Tufail sacrificed his life to save his subordinate troops and was posthumously presented with the Nishan-e-Haider.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canada |first1=Muhammad Imran Saeed from City of London |title=The inscription on Tufailabad Gate about the battle action of Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed (Nishan e Haider). Tufailabad Gate is entrance to Major Tufail Muhammad's village on Arifwala-Burewala Road. |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Major_Tufail_Muhammad_Shaheed_-_Inscription_on_Tufail_Gate_(7594797152).jpg |date=27 May 2012}}</ref>

===Galleries=== {{Gallery |title=Tomb and gravestone of Maj. Tufail Mohammad |width=130 |height=130 |align=center |File:Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed - The Gravestone (7594727050).jpg|{{small|The inscription on the life of Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed at his tomb in Tufailabad (Tufail Town) Graveyard}} |File:Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed - Tufail Gate (7594668850).jpg|{{small|The Tufail Gate, entrance to Tufailabad, the village of Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed (Nishan e Haider)}} |File:Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed - The Tomb (7594762844).jpg|{{small|The tomb of Maj. Tufail Muhammad}} |File:Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed - The Grave (7594745182).jpg|{{small|The grave of Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed (Nishah e Haider) at his tomb in Tufailabad Graveyard}} |File:Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed - Inscription on Tufail Gate (7594797152).jpg|{{small|The citation and grave of Major Tufail}}|mode=packed}} {{Commons category|Tufail Mohammad}}

==Awards and decorations== {{Infobox award | name = Nishan-e-Haider Recipient | image = | imagesize = 105px | caption = Tufail Muhammad received the '''Nishan-e-Haider''' Award | country = Islamic Republic of Pakistan | date = 1958 | presenter = President Iskandar Mirza }} {| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;" | colspan="4" |{{ribbon devices|ribbon=Nishan-e-Haider.png|width=130}} |- |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award‐star|ribbon=Pakistan Independence Medal 1947.png|width=130}} |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Republic Medal 1956 (Pakistan).png|width=130}} |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Ribbon - War Medal.png|width=130}} |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Ribbon India Service Medal.png|width=130}} |} {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;" | | colspan="2" |'''Nishan-e-Haider''' ''(Emblem of the Lion)''

'''1958 Border Skirmish'''

'''Posthumously''' | |- |'''Pakistan Tamgha''' ''(Pakistan Medal)''

'''1947''' |'''Tamgha-e-Jamhuria''' ''(Republic Commemoration Medal)''

'''1956''' |'''War Medal''' '''1939-1945''' |'''India Service Medal''' '''1939–1945''' |}

=== Foreign decorations === {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="3" style="background:#006400; color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center" |'''Foreign awards''' |- ! rowspan="2" |'''{{flag|UK}}''' |'''War Medal 1939-1945''' |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Ribbon - War Medal.png|width=130}} |- |'''India Service Medal 1939–1945''' |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Ribbon India Service Medal.png|width=130}} |}

==References== {{Reflist|2}} * https://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/martyrs

==External links== *[http://www.shaheedfoundation.org/NishaneHaider.asp Nishan-E-Haider]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad, Tufail}} Category:1914 births Category:1958 deaths Category:People from Hoshiarpur Category:Indian Military Academy alumni Category:British Indian Army officers Category:Pakistan Army officers Category:People of East Pakistan Category:People from Lakshmipur District Category:Pakistani military personnel killed in action Category:Recipients of Nishan-e-Haider Category:People from Punjab Province (British India) Category:Muslim Gujjars