The unforgettable hero of Army

New Delhi: He is known as the Lion of Naushera. Today, the Indian Army is commemorating the memory of one of its bravest soldiers, Brigadier Mohammad Usman.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee led the military establishment in paying tributes to this war hero.

The man who wrested his right to sleep on a cot after a hard-won military campaign was Brigadier Mohammad Usman. His victories were laden with significance, which goes beyond the military.

He was a Muslim soldier who rejected the idea of Pakistan, and then rallied an Indian brigade to not only beat back Pakistani forces advancing towards Jammu, but also win free India its first stirring military victories in 1948.

Brigadier Usman's contemporary Lt General LS Lehl says, "His message used to be to all of us that Jhangar has gone, Naushera will fall only if I die. As long as I'm living, it'll not ever be lost. The Rajputs had a vow that they will never eat in the silver thali if they lost a battle. He'd say, 'I don't have a silver thali. I have only charpoy to sleep. I will not sleep on a charpoy till I capture Jhangar."

“Right from childhood, he was always very keen, always wanted to be an Army person. He used to dress up in uniform and take a stick and say that this is a gun and I will guard the nation and he went to Sandhurst and came back and served his country and laid down his life that was the moment of glory for him a glorious death and of course we feel very proud," Usman's niece Saeeda Fyazuddin says.

Remembered as the Lion of Nowshera, Brigadier Usman was a nationalist soldier who was known to spin the Gandhian charkha in his spare time.

Usman's nephew Inayatullah says, "Gandhiji presented him a charkha.

And such was his passion to serve his country's army that it left him with little time to think of home and hearth.

Usman's niece Saeeda Fyazuddin says, "It was a very difficult period. Independence and partition. Very few soldiers like him could think of marriage."

This Sandhurst-trained officer was such a sore issue with Pakistan that it is learnt to have announced a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head.

Headhunting did not deter the young brigadier. But when death came in the form of an enemy shell near the frontlines, it so moved the establishment that even Lord Mountabatten and Jawaharlal Nehru joined the mourners at his funeral.

He was the first senior Indian Army officer who lay down his life in battle, and among the first few brave hearts to be awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

Amidst the communal turmoil resulting from the Partition, Brigadier Usman stood out as a Muslim soldier who died heroically defending the idea of India. His story remains a compelling one even six decades later.

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