Ex-Army Chief Suhag’s village has unflinching love for Army

Ravinder Saini

Bishan, the native village of former Indian Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag in Jhajjar district, has earned the distinction of every family there having one member serving in the armed forces. This sleepy village with a population of around 3,000 has over 150 serving, including 50 rank officers, and over 125 ex-servicemen.  

Though the village does not have a stadium, a number of youths can be seen sprinting in the ground and on the outer road in the morning and in the evening to prepare for recruitment in the Army. 

“Youths of our 400-year-old village are crazy about serving in the armed forces. Villagers have fought all battles that have taken place before and after Independence. Some villagers had attained martyrdom in the wars against China in 1962 and against Pakistan in 1971,” says village sarpanch Vidhya Devi’s husband Hansraj Suhag, whose grandfather had also served in the Army.  

He says around 200 families are at present residing in the village. Besides Dalbir Singh Suhag, Major General Bhim Singh Suhag (retd), who had also served as the Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, and Major General Sunil Suhag (retd) also hail from the village. General Dalbir’s parents still reside in the village while a majority of villagers do government and private jobs, he adds.  

“We are proud of the Army connection of every family in the village. There are more than 10 families whose second generation is also in the armed forces while three generations of four families have served in the Army,” says Rajpal Singh Suhag, a retired Flying Officer. A few Bishan villagers had also taken part in World War I and World War II but there is no memorial dedicated to them in the village.

“Two villagers each sacrificed their lives in World War I and World War II. Four widows, whose husbands were in the Azad Hind Fauz founded by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, are drawing family pension. Besides the armed forces, villagers are also serving in the Indian Revenue Service and police forces,” says Rajpal Singh. As the village lacks adequate basic amenities, more than 50 per cent villagers have shifted to nearby cities such as Jhajjar, Rohtak and Gurugram, he adds.   

Rajpal Singh says the village has poor transportation services, erratic power supply, no drainage system and health centre, and most of the streets are in a dilapidated condition. Villagers have to struggle to get potable water. Though the district authorities are aware of all issues, nothing has been done.