Category:Hilal-e-Jurat
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The following are some of the officers who have received the Hilal-e-Jurat, Pakistan's second highest military leadership award, corresponding to the British DSO ( Distinguished Service Order).
The first 4 recipients of the Hilal-e Jurat(HJ)_were Brigadier Mian Hayaud-Din; Brigadier Mohammad Aslam Khan ( brother of Air Marshal Mohammad Asghar Khan - the first Pakistani to become Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force); Brigadier Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi and Major General Mohammad Ayub Khan.
The first three (3) officers named above were awarded the HJ for valour and distinction in combat, commanding Pakistani troops and volunteers in operations against enemy forces of the Indian Army in Kashmir c. 1948, in conformity with the criteria for the award of an HJ.
Ayub Khan, however, was not serving in Kashmir nor was he involved in any combat with Indian Army forces anywhere at that time. He was the commander of Pakistani troops in East Pakistan ( now Bangladesh ) about 1000 miles away from Kashmir, as General Officer Commanding ( GOC ) of the single Division of the Pakistan Army that formed the garrison there. He was awarded the HJ for dealing with smugglers operating across the border between India and East Pakistan.The Secretary of Defence of the Government of Pakistan, Iskandar Mirza, formerly of the Indian Civil Service, was instrumental in Ayub Khan's being awarded the HJ.
After the 1948 Kashmir war with India, Pakistan did not award any HJ's until 1965, when there were military actions in the Rann of Katch in the spring and the war with India in September.
