Mohammad Usman: Difference between revisions

| birth_place  = Bibipur, [[Azamgarh district "Present Mau District"]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]

[[Brigadier (India)|Brigadier]] '''Mohammad Usman'''  [[Maha Vir Chakra|MVC]] (15 July 1912 – 3 July 1948)<ref>[http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=106056 Wreath Laying Ceremony of Brig Mohammad Usman, MVC], Ministry of Defence, Government of India, 3 July 2014.</ref> was the highest ranking  officer of the [[Indian Army]] killed in action during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]]. As a [[Muslim]], Usman became a symbol of India's inclusive secularism.<ref name = Guha>{{cite book |first=Ramachandra |last=Guha |authorlink=Ramachandra Guha |title=India after Gandhi |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-06-019881-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/indiaaftergandhi00guha/page/94 94] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/indiaaftergandhi00guha/page/94 }}</ref> At the time of the [[partition of India]]  he with many other Muslim officers declined to move to the [[Pakistan Army]] and continued to serve with the Indian Army.<ref name="Hindu 2004"/> He was killed in July 1948 while fighting Pakistani soldiers and militia in [[Kashmir|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref name="Hindu 2004">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040813150302/http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/05/stories/2004070510170400.htm "Tributes paid to Brigadier Usman"], ''The Hindu'', 5 July 2004.</ref> He was later awarded the second highest military decoration for gallantry in the face of enemy, the [[Maha Vir Chakra]]<ref name="Hindu 2012" /><ref>[http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/brig-mohammad-usman-s-death-anniversary-commemorated-115070300999_1.html Brig Mohammad Usman's death anniversary commemorated], Business Standard, 3 July 2015.</ref>

Usman was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant]] on 30 April 1936 and [[Captain (armed forces)|Captain]] on 31 August 1941. From February to July 1942, he attended the [[Command and Staff College|Indian Army Staff College]] at [[Quetta]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Masters| first=John| authorlink=John Masters| title=The Road past Manadaley| publisher=Cassell| year=2002| isbn=978-0-3043-6157-1| pages=91, 335}}</ref> By April 1944, he was a temporary [[Major]].<ref>April 1944 Indian Army List</ref> He served in [[Burma]] and was [[mentioned in dispatches]] as a temporary Major in the London Gazette 27 September 1945. He commanded the 14th battalion of the 10th Baluch Regiment (14/10 Baluch) from April 1945 to April 1946.<ref>History of the Baloch Regiment 1939-56, p 257</ref>

In 1947 Pakistan sent tribal irregulars into the princely state of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] in an attempt to capture it and accede it to Pakistan. Usman, then commanding the 77th Parachute Brigade, was sent to command  the [[50th Parachute Brigade (India)|50th Parachute Brigade]], which was deployed at [[Jhangar]]<!-- As per wiki guidelines, retain redlink to encourage its reation. --><ref>Jhangar in Naushera sector of Rajauri district is Zero Point on LOC.</ref> in December 1947.<ref name="Frontier"/> On 25 December 1947, with the odds stacked heavily against the brigade, Pakistani forces captured Jhangar. Located at the junction of roads coming from [[New Mirpur City|Mirpur]] and [[Kotli]], Jhangar was of strategic importance. On that day Usman took a vow to recapture Jhangar – a feat he accomplished three months later, but at the cost of his own life.<ref name="Academy">

Indian Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and his Cabinet colleagues attended the funeral of Usman — "the highest ranking military commander till date" to lay down his life in the battlefield. He was given a state funeral of a martyr.<ref name="Hindu 2012">

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* [[Maha Vir Chakra#List of recipients|List of recipients of Maha Vir Chakra]]