Amritsar village, once the beating heart of Punjab’s communist movement

Though spared by the recent floods, residents of Tarsika and nearby villages were reminded of the devastation caused by the catastrophic flood of 1955, which washed away homes and crops.

Attar Singh, now in his seventies, recalled how his parents described the suffering and hardship that followed. “Its impact lingered for years as we grew up,” he said. The disaster had prompted then Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon to direct departments to construct drains for the swollen rivers.

Kairon visited the village frequently, given its influence over nearly 100 surrounding villages. At the time, farming was arduous, heavily reliant on manual labour and traditional tools. During public addresses in Punjabi, Kairon assured farmers that mechanisation would ease their toil. “Kand ch ungli maroge tan zamin hetho pani nikal ayega (press a finger on a wall and water will spring up from underneath the land). You will plough your fields while sitting in a chair,” he told them, hinting at tractors and submersible pumps.

But to the farmers, these promises seemed fanciful. Many dismissed them as diversions from immediate concerns and resentment grew. According to old-timers, before the 1965 Assembly elections, a villager, Anrej Singh, even hurled a slipper at Kairon during a visit.

At that time, Tarsika fell under the Verka constituency. Despite Congress forming the government in Punjab in 1964 under Kairon, Verka elected CPI candidate Makhan Singh Tarsika as its MLA, defeating Congress’s Sohan Singh Dhulka.

Makhan Singh, a formidable orator, frequently challenged Kairon in the Assembly with pointed questions, strengthening the communist movement. Tarsika soon became a stronghold of leftist ideology, with lower-rung leaders emerging and offices being set up. Gurbhej Singh, an elderly villager, however, noted that repeated splits within the communist party gradually eroded its base in the area.

Like much of Punjab, the village also has a tradition of military service. A plaque, installed during pre-Partition times, records that “from this village 105 men went to the Great War 1914–1919. Of these, 10 gave up their lives.”

Today, Tarsika houses 15 gurdwaras and 12 wards, known locally as pattis.