JEDDAH — Members of the Indian Community in Jeddah gave a big salute to the patriotic valor and great sacrifice of Brig. Mohammed Usman, who laid his life defending the honor of his great nation. Brig. Usman, who at a young age, declined the offer to assume the highest military rank of another country and instead preferred to defeat them in a crucial war by sacrificing his precious life on the war front and thus becoming the highest-ranking Indian Army officer to be martyred in the war. This great Indian war hero, nicknamed as the “Lion of Nowshera,” was remembered recently during the community’s celebration of the Indian Army Day, which falls on Jan. 15, and that marked paying rich tribute to members of the Indian Armed Forces. Acting Indian Consul General Y. Sabir was the chief guest of the event, titled “Salute to our heroes,” held in the presence of prominent community members at the conference hall of the Jeddah Consulate in which several highly decorated officers of the Indian Army joined virtually to speak about their experiences right from the field with great enthusiasm and passion. The most distinguished among them was the keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Bhupinder Singh, former lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The younger generation of the community also were part of the celebration and posthumous honoring of the great Indian war hero with their participation in the “Brig. Usman Memorial Storytelling Contest.” In his speech, Sabir shared with the audience how an Indian Army soldier goes through tough and arduous training that enables him to achieve all round personality development as a true role model of an Indian citizen. “An Indian Army soldier is the epitome of courage and determination to his duty, and his role and responsibilities are not limited only to warfronts but rather cover much wider areas of serving the entire nation and people,” he said, while calling on the younger generation to come forward to take up a brilliant career in the Indian Armed Forces. Sabir also lauded the efforts of Indian community for holding a unique event in honoring Brig. Usman, coinciding with the Army Day. President of India Forum Mir Ferozuddin, who hails from the bloodline of Brig. Usman, spoke about the ‘josh’ of the soldiers that is more ferocious than the roar of a lion. “It is this josh that made the “Sher of Nowshera” reject the offer to become the Chief of Army of the neighboring country and continued to command his country’s army until he became a martyr on the soil of his own beloved country,” he said. Ferozuddin invited Kargil war veteran Capt. Yashika Tyagi to join the session virtually to give a brief biography of Brig. Usman and insights into his heroic martyrdom. She began her speech with the remarks of “Shera Shera Nowshera” feeling of pride of belonging to the banner of the great Brigadier. Tyagi described the courage and determination of Brig. Usman in recapturing Jhangar village in Kashmir. “In all senses of the word, Brig. Usman was a great warrior, who faced each set back in his life head-long and defeated each setback with the strength of his character.” Capt. Tyagi, the first lady officer to be posted in extreme cold weather, also spoke eloquently about how a woman, a mother of a toddler and four-month pregnant, fought bravely to safeguard India’s borders. She motivated Indian girls and boys to join the Indian Armed Forces, with a promise to train them personally. In his keynote address, Lt. Gen. Bhupinder Singh recalled: “Brig. Usman continued to remain an inspiring war hero all throughout my military and civil life ever since my joining of the Indian Army at the age of 19. Brig. Usman was among my heroes about whom I have been mentioning in all my writings,” he observed and lauded the family of Mir Ferozuddin as a fine example of true patriots.” The event also saw a virtual CatFit deliberations to mark the Army Day. CatFit, a pioneer of M.A.S.T.S (Military Application and Special Forces Tactics for Students), covers all domains of psychological, mental, physical and emotional development and thereby ensuring that students achieve their optimum potential. Global Head of CatFit Arpan Dixit introduced the speakers. Maj. D.P. Singh, a distinguished military officer who fought in the Kargil war and sustained serious injuries, spoke about the sheer determination of a soldier. Singh talked about the kind of soldiers the Indian Armed Forces develop with tough trainings. He showed his journey from 1999 when he got injured by a mortar bomb in Kargil to being the first blade runner of India. Defense expert Brig. Anjum Shahab, who has over three decades of services in Indian Army, addressed the young generation and motivated them to join the Armed Forces and showed direction on how they can join. On his part, Maj. Mohammed Ali Shah drew attention to various TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Talks, giving full of inspiration and well connected with the young generation. Shah started off as an actor and then joined the Indian Armed Forces where he served for five years. The Squadron Leader Meena Arora narrated her stories from the war field. She mentioned the use of technology in the Air Force and how it is influenced in winning a war. Arora talked about the strength of the Indian Air Force and mentioned the fight of Wing Commander Abhinandan Vardhaman, who landed in the enemy area but showed bravery in the face of death. Zakaria Biladi, a prominent Indian community leader, was mainly behind organizing this unique event with the core objective of creating awareness among the younger generation about picking their brilliant career path in the Indian Defense Forces. In his speech Biladi said: “There is a dire need to ignite the passion for such services in the Indian youth living in Saudi Arabia particularly because they are not exposed to seeing the activities of Indian Army as much as the youth living in India are.” Earlier, the event began with a welcome speech by Asim Zeeshan, the master of ceremonies, while Mohammed Hyder proposed the vote of thanks. The organizers of the event also included M. Siraj, Mohsin Sharif, KTA Muneer, and Imran Kausar. Acting Consul General Y. Sabir gave away prizes to winners of the Brig. Usman Memorial Story telling contest. The winners are the following: Junior Category (7-9 classes) — Kavin Adhitiya & Ms. Danhushri Subramanyan (first); Syeda Umamah Qadri (second); and Ashwin Karuppasamy & Ms. Aishwarya Jayasankar (third). Senior Category (10-12 classes): Rimy Tomy (first); Marial Aranha (second) and Sana Ferozuddin (third). Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Biladi said that the competition has been instrumental in inculcating a huge amount of patriotism and passion among the Indian students as well as to instill in them high esteem to the great sacrifices of Brig. Usman in defending the homeland. Brig. Usman was the highest ranking officer of the Indian Army killed in action during the Indo-Pakistan War, immediately after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. At the time of the partition, he, along with many other Muslim officers, declined to move to the Pakistan Army and even turned down the offer to become the first Chief of Army of the new state of Pakistan, and thus becoming a great symbol of India’s inclusive secularism. It was during the defense of Jhangar in Jammu and Kashmir Usman was killed on July 3, 1948, by an enemy 25-pounder shell. He was then 12 days short of his 36th birthday. His last words were “I am dying but let not the territory we were fighting for fall for the enemy.” For his inspiring leadership and great courage, he was awarded posthumously with the second highest military decoration for gallantry in the face of enemy, the Maha Vir Chakra. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Cabinet colleagues attended the funeral of Brig. Usman, who was buried in a grave in the Butla House near the Jamia Millia Islamia campus in New Delhi.