A tale of two heroes rooted in history, still inspiring generations

Chohla Sahib village has a proud association with two venerable personalities who serve and inspire as guide for society.

The first is Gadri Baba Sucha Singh who sacrificed his life for the freedom of the country as he was associated with the Gadar movement. He died at the age of 73 in 1953 in the village. He was born in 1880 in the family of Gurdit Singh and Mata Inder Kaur in Chohla Sahib village.

In 1913, he was recruited as a constable in the cavalry unit of the British army at Lahore. He was attracted to the cause of Gadar Party formed by Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna and others in America. He met a few leaders of Gadar party in October 1914 in the area and expressed his willingness to be a part of it.

When he rejoined his duty after leave, he contacted his other colleagues in the army who happily expressed their eagerness to work for the freedom struggle. He was arrested in 1914 and after court martial, sentenced to five years in jail. He came to Chohla Sahib in 1947 after the freedom of the country where he died on November 24, 1953. The villagers have formed ‘Desh Bhagat Baba Sucha Singh Yadgari Society, Chohla Sahib’ which has preserved some memorable documents related to the honourable son of the soil, including the handwritten letters written by Mahatma Gandhi to Baba Sucha Singh.

The whole landed property has been donated to a government school in the village and the Yadgari Society.

The other personality is Baba Darshan Singh Kalsi, who is 90 years of age at present. It is believed that he is the oldest person not only in Chohla Sahib village but in many other surrounding villages of the area also.

Baba Darshan Singh Kalsi is physically fit and leads a healthy life. He is fit to listen with no hearing aid required and is an eyewitness to the partition in 1947. Talking to The Tribune, Baba Darshan Singh Kalsi said that he was just 13 years old at the time of partition. He still remembers that it was Mota Singh Wala (13 miles from Lahore near Dera Chahal village), the native village of his family from where they migrated to Chohla Sahib after the partition in 1947.

He said that he studied up to the seventh class in Urdu medium at Mota Singh Wala. He said that at the time of partition, when brutality reigned on both sides of the India-Pakistan border, the residents (members of the Muslim community) of Mota Singh Wala village remained cooperative and came with bullock carts to send them across the border in safe custody.

He said that their families landed in Wan Tara Singh village and later the families were allotted houses in Chohla Sahib village. He added that the family of SAD leader and former minister Heera Singh Gabria too was allotted a house in Chohla Sahib village but they shifted to Ludhiana soon. Baba Darshan Singh Kalsi leads a routine life and eats normal food like roti, rice etc.