Says as many as 74,000 Indian soldiers died in the fouryear war
LUDHIANA :Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday honoured the family members of 152 soldiers from Punjab, who fought in World War-I, in a ceremony to commemorate 100 years of the war at Amaltas village near Ludhiana city.
HT PHOTO■ Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh fetes the descendant of a World WarI soldier at a commemoration ceremony in Ludhiana on Wednesday.
Of the 152 martyrs’ kin, most of whom attended the event at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh War Museum, 15 were called on stage and handed over shawls and mementos by the CM.
Manjit Kaur Bains (66), a Mohali resident and granddaughter of Harnam Singh, a ‘dafadar’ (non-commissioned officer) in the 12th Cavalry Brigade of the British Army, said she was invited to attend the event after she shared the veteran’s picture on the Facebook page titled ‘Sikh military history’ a few months ago.
Born in 1900, Harnam was posted in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) from 1914 to 1929. He passed away in 1983 at his native village Bihala in Hoshiarpur district.
“Few days ago, I received a call from the district sainik board, Mohali. My name was shortlisted among the descendants of 152 WW-I soldiers. It was an encouraging gesture on part of the government,” said Manjit Kaur, whose husband is a retired colonel.
Rajinder Singh (70), a retired roadways employee from Rampur village near Doraha, said his grandfather Labh Singh had died fighting the enemy in the war.
The British government recognised his death and even issued a medal and a letter from the Queen. “My father was merely two- year-old when my grandfather left for war. The family was given an annual pension of ₹5 by the British,” said Rajinder.
“Recently I had learnt that some people at Baddowal onganised a programme to honour the WW-I martyrs. They were surprised to see the gallantry medals and asked me to visit the district sainik welfare board, Ludhiana. I am happy that my grandfather’s sacrifice was acknowledged,” said Rajinder.
Darshan Singh (68), a farmer from Sangrur and grandson of WW-I martyr Krishan Singh, said, “I could never imagine that I would be honoured for my grandfather’s sacrifice and get a chance to have lunch with the CM.” He was presented a shawl and a memento.
‘HISTORY DISTORTED’ “The present generation is not aware that their ancestors participated in a World War. The history has been distorted as the students are not taught about their forefathers. Around 74,000 Indian soldiers died in the fouryear-long war. The names of only 60,000 could be traced with no record of the rest.”
