Freedom fighter Bhajan Singh Sohal passed away at the age of 95 at his residence in Rajguru Nagar, where he had been living with his grandson and his family. He was laid to rest with full state honours at Sunet village, 8km from Ludhiana.
Amandeep Singh Sohal, the grandson, said his grandfather always thought about the welfare of the country and never availed freedom fighter pension stating that he wanted to contribute to the country to the fullest.
“My grandfather lived like a hero. He jumped into the freedom struggle at a very young age and participated in the Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. He was arrested and jailed for nine months for participating in the movement. However, he again joined the freedom struggle as soon as he came of jail,” said Amandeep.
“He proudly narrated the tales of freedom struggle and used to say how it was a matter of pride for a freedom fighter to be arrested,” he said, narrating: “Once when my grandfather was arrested, he had asked the British policemen to take him to the police station via Girjaghar Chowk near Chaura Bazar so that everybody can know that he was arrested. With his head held high, he had walked through the lanes of Chaura Bazar with handcuffs on.”
{{/usCountry}}“He proudly narrated the tales of freedom struggle and used to say how it was a matter of pride for a freedom fighter to be arrested,” he said, narrating: “Once when my grandfather was arrested, he had asked the British policemen to take him to the police station via Girjaghar Chowk near Chaura Bazar so that everybody can know that he was arrested. With his head held high, he had walked through the lanes of Chaura Bazar with handcuffs on.”
{{/usCountry}}In 1972, Bhajan Singh Sohal joined the Ludhiana District Congress Committee. He was the first president of the Punjab Youth Congress. He was said to be close to former President of India Giani Zail Singh and former chief ministers of Punjab — Bhim Sen Sachhar, Gopi Chand Bhargava and Beant Singh.
Sohal was fond of reading the newspaper and writing diaries. He had written diaries from 1950 to 2003 and most of his writings are in Urdu.