Saif Ali Janjua

Naik Saif Ali Janjua (23 April 1922 — 26 October 1948) was a Pakistani non-commissioned officer of the Azad Kashmir Regiment who previously served overseas for four years in the British Indian Army during World War II. He joined the Pakistan Army after the Partition of British India and was a Platoon Commander during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948. He is known for establishing the Haidri Force on 1 January 1948, with the support of Sardar Fateh Muhammad Karailvi.

As of June 2023, he is the only recipient of the Hilal-e-Kashmir award from the government of Azad Kashmir which was later declared as the equivalent of the Nishan-e-Haider, the highest military award. He fought in Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948 and lost his life during the siege of Bhudha Khanna.

Early life
He was born into a family of the Janjua Rajputs to Malik Muhammad Masoom Khan on 23 April 1922 in Nakyal, Kashmir & Jammu, British India.

Personal life
He was married to Zohra Bibi and had three children, Muhammad Siddique, Muhammad Raffique, and Tasweer Begum.

British Indian Army
He was enlisted into the Corps of Engineers in the British Indian Army as a Sepoy on 18 March 1941. He served for four years during World War II and when the war ended, his unit sailed back to the Indian subcontinent and was stationed at Jalandhar and Lahore.

Pakistan Army
When Pakistan received Independence in 1947, he opted to join the Pakistan Army. On 1 January 1948, with the support of Sardar Fateh Muhammad Karailvi, he established the Haidri Force which was named Sher-e-Riasti Battalion under the command of Lt Col Muhammad Sher Khan and later renamed to 18th Battalion. Due to his dedication and leadership qualities, Janjua was promoted to Naik and made Platoon Commander of the Sher-e-Riasti Battalion, now known as 18th Azad Kashmir Regiment. He inflicted heavy losses on the enemy at Bhudha Khanna and repulsed the attacks of the Indian Armys 5th and 19th Brigade at Pir Kalewa on 20 October 1948. While deployed there, he faced constant frontal and crossfire from opposition machine guns. He defended his post and imposed significant losses on the Indian Army. The enemy used every means to capture the post with the two companies' attacks and heavy shelling but he still managed to retain his post with just a handful of men.

Death
During the battle, he was critically injured after being hit in the chest by artillery fire but despite this he crawled to collect ammunition from the dead and wounded soldiers to distribute it amongst the remaining surviving soldiers. He was repositioning his surviving troops to defend against another wave of enemy attacks, when he was hit with an artillery shell fatally. He ultimately died on 26 October 1948.

Awarded Posthumously
On 14 March 1949, the Defence Council of Azad Jammu & Kashmir posthumously adorned him with the Hilal-e-Kashmir and on 30 November 1995 the Government of Pakistan declared his Hilal-e-Kashmir equivalent to Nishan-e-Haider.