Army chief General Bipin Rawat unveiled a memorial during the anniversary of Param Veer Chakra Havildar Abdul Hamid in Bhamupur village of Ghazipur on Sunday.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat unveiled a memorial of 1965 Indo-Pak war hero Abdul Hamid in Ghazipur district on Sunday. The war hero had been posthumously awarded the country’s highest wartime gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra.
On the 52nd anniversary of Company Quartermaster Havildar Hamid’s sacrifice, General Rawat and his wife Madhulika met the late soldier’s widow Rasoolan Bibi, and several other war widows, to felicitate them.
The Army chief also bowed down and touched the feet of Havildar Hamid’s 80-year-old widow.
Also Read: Who Really Won the India-Pakistan 1965 War?
Unveiling a memorial in Hamid’s honour in his ancestral village, he exhorted the youth to join the armed forces.
General Bipin Rawat said about the war hero:
Hamid is an inspiration for the youth and his extraordinary bravery has made the country proud.
What are Havildar Hamid’s Roots?
Abdul Hamid was born on 1 July 1993 in Dhamupur village, in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, to Sakina Begum and Mohammad Usman. Hamid was born into a family of modest means, and his father, who was a tailor, could not afford an expensive education for his six children. Before joining the Army, Hamid would often help his father with his tailoring, reported The Better India.
At the young age of 20, Hamid was recruited into the Army in Varanasi. He was trained at the Grenadiers Regimental Centre at Nasirabad, after which he was posted in 1955 to the 4 Grenadiers regiment, according to a report in The Better India.
Havildar Hamid fought the 1962 war in Thang La pass, at the time a part of the North-East Frontier Province, as a part of the 7 Mountain Brigade, 4 Mountain Division.
Following the truce, Hamid moved along with his troop to Ambala, Haryana, where was he was posted to an administration company as Company Quarter-Master Havildar (CQMH).
Havildar Hamid had completed ten years with the Indian Army, and was serving in the 4th Grenadiers, when India and Pakistan went to war in 1965. Despite his basic military training, Hamid showed great military prowess during his various postings in Agra, Amritsar, Jammu and Kashmir, NEFA and Ramgarh.
He is remembered for single-handedly demolishing Pakistani tanks during the Battle of Asal Uttar, one of the largest tank battles fought during the 1965 war. Following his death on 10 September 1965, at the age of 32, Hamid was laid to rest in a grave at Asal Uttar.
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