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Daaniyal @Le_Sabre54
, 9 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
My maternal grandfather, Nana, a Gunner from no. 2 PMA - 16 SP was a young Lt. during the Anti Ahmedi riots of the 50s.
Rampaging mobs of mullahs were out buring and looting.
Him and a small detachment of soldiers plus a JCO under his command manned a piquet.
They had been given the task of not letting any mob pass beyond their position.
My Nana remembers he was very nervous. He had no experience or training of facing such a situation.
I remember him telling me how 😟 he was he would make a wrong move and get his men killed.
He had placed some stones about a 100 yards forward from the piquet.
Him and his JCO decided they would have no choice but to open fire once any mob moved beyond that point. They would try to scare off the crowd but if that failed they would open fire and try to save themselves.
Soon enough this mob of mullahs appeared and moved towards them.
My nana's soldiers were nervous - the senior JCO being the one keeping everyone's courage up.
They fired in the air again and again. Motioned for them to stop. They kept coming.
The mob was a large one.
My Nana didn't believe they'd hve much of a chance after they'd cross the 100 yard line even if they opened fire. As he was thinking what to do he felt he has sussed out who the ringleader was. The man in the middle everyone else seemed to be following. He knew at once he was key
So as he told it he let them get as close as possible - within 10 feet.
Then he took out his side arm and shot that mob leader right in his head.
As he had wagered - the entire mob panicked and started to retreat helter skelter as that man hit the road.
I remember the smile on his face as he told me.
He'd saved his men and held the post he'd been asked to hold.
I must have been 7 or 8 when he told me this story.
And I was just wide eyed.
Never forgot it.
Always remember that when I see these animals running riot.
He was an old school soldier sahib.

He fought the Afghans.
He fought at Kasur in '65. Gave the adversary some serious hell where the unit lost it's CO.

But truth be told I think he was proudest of that one action more than all the other combat he faced.
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