Jalandhar village remembers ace soldier Arjan Singh for his benevolence

Air Marshal Arjan Singh

Air Marshal Arjan Singh, who died at the Army Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi Saturday evening, shared a strong emotional bond with the Jalandhar village where his family migrated from Lyallpur (now Faisalabad in Pakistan) after Partition. Dalits in Chuharwali, barely 15 km from Jalandhar city on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur Road, still remember the decorated warrior for his generosity. “Marshal Arjan Singh was a great human being. He gave 5-10 marla plots to several people of reserved castes of our village over four decade ago. He gave over one kannal land for Shri Guru Ravi Das Gurdwara in late 1960s and even got the gurdwara building constructed for the poor in 1971 from his own money,” said Karamjit Singh Kamma, a panchyat member of Chuharwali village.

The plots were given out from 80 acres of land that the the Singh’s father, Kishan Singh, was allotted, along with a concrete house, after Partition. Villagers recalled how the remaining land was sold to villagers at a much lower price. Now, the gurdwara building that Air Marshal Arjan Singh got constructed houses a gym for the village youth.

Kammasaid the late Air Marshal had done a lot for the Dalits from the village, and the community wanted a memorial built for him here. Surinder Singh, son of late Kartar Singh who was a close friend of Arjan Singh, said, “The Air Marshal and my father Kartar Singh were very close friends. The former handed out a power of attorney (POA) for his land in favour of my father who looked after his land for long before it was sold to several parties. The house was purchased by my father, who died in 1984, for a princely sum of Rs 5,000.”