The 58th Shahadat Anniversary of Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed was observed on Tuesday. On this occasion, the Armed Forces of Pakistan including Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee and Services Chiefs paid glowing tribute to him as he stood as a leaden wall in front of the enemy and sacrificed his life for the defence of the motherland in 1965 war. Major Raja Aziz Bhatti’s martyrdom anniversary serves as a powerful reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the Armed Forces of Pakistan to defend the motherland. He was born in Hong Kong in 1928. He moved to Pakistan before it became independent in 1947 and lived in the village of Ladian, in the district of Gujrat.

There he enlisted with the newly formed Pakistani Army and was commissioned to the Punjab Regiment in 1950. On 6 September 1965 after India attacked Pakistan with the largest ever number of tanks, Major Bhatti as Company Commander in the Burki area of the Lahore sector chose to move with his forward platoon under incessant artillery and tank attacks for five days and nights in the defence of the strategic BRB canal. Throughout, undaunted by constant fire from enemies’ tanks and artillery, he organized the defence of the canal, directing his men to answer the fire until he was hit by an enemy tank shell which killed him on 12 September 1965. He was 37 years old. Raja Aziz Bhatti was rewarded with the prestigious Nishan-e Haidar for his services to Pakistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)