Tarn Taran Diary: Tejinder Singh brings honour to his village

Tejinder Singh, a resident of Tharu village, has brought laurels to the area as he has been awarded with Veer Chakra (VC) by President Ram Nath Kovind. The award was given to him in a well-decorated ceremony organised in the Rashtarpati Bhawan, on November 23. He was the rarest of the rare persons in the area to get the award. Tejinder Singh (42) got superannuated after 22 years of service of his service on November 30. He was honoured with the Veer Chakra for his bravery in the hand-to-hand fight with the Chinese soldiers on June 15, 2020 in the Galwan Valley. He said the temperature of the valley during the incident was minus 13 degrees. He faced two Chinese soldiers. He was awarded with the Veer Chakra for his bravery. He was honoured by his village residents in a congregation in the village gurdwara. Ranjit Singh Tharu, one of the organisers of the local Gurdwara Committee, Ranjit Singh Tharu, while honouring him, said Tejinder Singh had brought laurels to the village.

Ubboke — a leader of the masses, indeed

Major Singh Ubboke (April, 27, 1927- November 3, 2020) was a leader of the masses, who remained active in the state and the national politics for more than 60 years. He got involved in the Sikh religious affairs at a young age. Born in a backward area in Ubboke village (near Patti), he was the lone boy of the village who did his BA (from Khalsa College, Amritsar) and later joined the Indian Army in education core. During his service, he started taking keen interest in the Punjabi Suba Morcha. He left the Army job and joined the Punjabi Suba Morcha Movement. He was elected an MLA from Valtoha (now Khemkaran) twice (1980-82, 1984-1986) and once a Lok Sabha member from Tarn Taran (Now Khadoor Sahib) constituency as the SAD candidate. He was a Cabinet minister in the Surjit Singh Barnala government. He developed personal relations with the people of his area. He made umpteen efforts to supply irrigation and drinking water to residents of Khara Majha for whom he did his best to supply canal water and drinking water through deep tube-wells. The groundwater in the areas such as Khalra, Khemkaran, Bhikhiwind, Sabhra, Rattoke, including downstream area of Sutlej from Harike, ground used to be salty, and was not fit for drinking and irrigation. Being a Cabinet minister in the Surjit Singh Barnala government, he once came to Jhabal village to attend a social function where a large number of people from the area came up with the critical problems ailing them. He left the spot only after listening to everybody. He remained there till late evening and gave a patient hearing to all. Ubboke was loyal to Jathedar (Late) Gurcharan Singh Tohra in the politics and in SGPC affairs. He was nominated as the acting president of the SGPC during the emergency. During his student life, he was a hockey and kabaddi player. He was also known to play gatka. People like Ubboke are hard to find.

Martyr’s village in a dilapidated state

It was the occasion of the cremation of brave Naik Gursewak Singh on December 12, who died in the helicopter crash accompanying CDS General Bipin Rawat. Heaps of cow-dung was seen all over the roads in Dode Sodhian village of the brave soldier. The village street drains filled with wastewater raised a stink. Most of the streets of the village were kutcha. One of the residents said they were habitual of living under such inhuman conditions. Another resident said the administration could have made better arrangements to clean the streets and remove cow dung heaps as a mark of showing reverence to the martyr. This issue has never been a part of the state government’s agenda even after 74 years of Independence. Even other villages of the state are in the same condition.

Contrbuted by Gurbaxpuri