A Soldier’s End in a Hospital Ward
Not every soldier’s end comes in a blaze of battle. On 12 June 2009, Major Sardar Muhammad Khalid Qayyum Khan Shaheed departed for his final abode at CMH Rawalpindi. An officer of the 90th PMA Long Course, commissioned into 77 Field Regiment of Artillery, he had been in a coma following an accident — an accident that no amount of courage could prevent. Surrounded by the care of his comrades and doctors, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and embraced shahadat.
The Gunner’s Goodbye
The artillery is a brotherhood of its own, bound by the thunder of the guns. His fellow gunners of 77 Field Regiment remember him as the pride of the nation — an officer who did his duty and asked for nothing in return. The 90th PMA Long Course, his course, remembers him as a course mate and a brother officer. The officers of the course went on to serve across the Army, but they carry the memory of the gunner who left them in June 2009.
There is a particular sorrow in a death that comes slowly, in a hospital bed, with comrades keeping watch. The accident had already taken him from active service; the cardiac arrest took him from the world. Through it all, he remained a soldier of the Pakistan Army — and the Army honoured him as one.
A Vigil of Comrades
CMH Rawalpindi is where the Army cares for its own, and it was there — among doctors and comrades keeping watch — that Major Khalid Qayyum Khan spent his final days. There is a particular sorrow in a farewell that comes slowly: the accident had already taken him from active service, the coma had taken him from the world of the living, and on 12 June 2009, a sudden cardiac arrest took him from the world entirely. Through it all, he remained a soldier of the Pakistan Army. And the Army, which never abandons its own, honoured him as one.
The guns he served still thunder in the Army’s exercises. The 77 Field Regiment still stands ready, and the 90th Long Course still carries his memory wherever its officers serve. Sixteen years have passed, but some names do not fade with time — they settle into the tradition of the regiment, into the quiet ledger of the fallen, into the prayers of comrades who remember the gunner who left them in June 2009. Not every shahadat is sudden. The nation honours these too — for the uniform does not distinguish between the manner of its servant’s passing, only the sincerity of his service.
The Original Tribute
Today is the 16th shahadat anniversary of Maj Sardar Muhammad Khalid Qayyum Khan Shaheed.
On 12 June 2009, he left for his final abode due to sudden cardiac arrest in CMH Rawalpindi. He was in a coma at that time due to an accident.
Pride of the nation. Pride of 90L/C ex 77 Fd Regt Arty.
May Allah grant him highest ranks in Jannah!
The Uniform Does Not Distinguish
His shahadat anniversary is observed every year on 12 June. Sixteen years have passed since that day in CMH Rawalpindi. The guns he served still thunder in the Army’s exercises, and the regiment he belonged to still stands ready. His name is part of that readiness, part of that tradition.
Not every shahadat is sudden. Some are the quiet end of a struggle fought in wards instead of on battlefields. The nation honours these too — for the uniform does not distinguish between the manner of its servant’s passing, only the sincerity of his service. Major Sardar Muhammad Khalid Qayyum Khan Shaheed served the guns faithfully and rests now in honour. May he be granted the highest ranks in Jannah, as the tribute prays — and may his name be remembered among the shuhada for generations to come.
 embraced shahadat on 12 June 2009. Read his tribute on Feature Pakistan.){kind=link}