Around midday on Dec 18, 1971 a company commander from 15 Punjab met CO 2 Sikh
He was to collect bodies of his soldiers who fell during a failed attack earlier that morning
'My best boxer', remarked the coy comd as he identified Mahfuz
Oh he fought like a boxer! replied Col Puri

Lance Naik Mahfuz joined the leading troops as 15 Punjab attacked to reclaim the lost border post of Pul Kanjri
Badly injured with a damaged firearm as he crawled Mahfuz knew his objective
His troops saw him getup one last time before disappearing into a cloud of smoke and dust

Later into the day CO 2Sikh would tell the company commander that Mahfuz had dashed onto MG bunker grabbed the firer from his neck and held firm to his grip
Mahfuz in this struggle was bayonetted to death by No.2 in trench, but by then the firer had died under Mahfuz's iron fists

Lnk Muhammad Mahfuz Shaheed was awarded the highest award for gallantry Nishan e Haider
He sleeps beside his mother in a simple tomb in Pind Malkan built on the land owned by his family

Back to 18 Dec morning at Pul Kanjri and dear reader, we shall rewind to the previous night

The border post of Pul Kanjri was snatched back from 43 Punjab on Ni 17/18 Dec by 2 Sikhs in style
That night one Lnk Shanghara Singh became a mythical figure with a strikingly matching tale to that of Mahfuz
The story is graphically represented on the Pul Kanjri monument

In the heat of battle, sneaking his approach to a bunker's loophole Shanghara Singh practically snatched the machine gun from the firer in a hand to hand fight
He succumbed to gunfire on his chest from close range
Our soldier for his valour was awarded with Maha Vir Chakra

Both the Potohar stretch and a border village in East Punjab celebrate a different kind of warriors
Those taking on the firepower of machine guns in a hand to hand fight winning it big time
Warriors of the kind of Shanghara Singh of Pul Kanjri and Muhammad Mahfuz of Pind Malkan