AFTER India became independent a number of roads were renamed after the national leaders in different cities. Instances of a village or town getting a new name are fewer. A Gurdaspur village is about to achieve this distinction.
Dhakla village will soon renamed as Surjit Singh Wala, says Mr. Narinder Singh, who is well known in Chandigarh for his solicitousness to the foreign tourists, The Union Home Ministry has given permission to the Punjab government to change the name of the village.
This is a well-deserved honor to perpetuate the memory of the Olympic hockey star Surjit Singh who died in a road accident in 1984, was born in Dhakla village in 1951 and represented India at the Munich Olympics in 1972. India won the World Cup at Kuala Lumpur in 1975 when Surjit Singh scored the winning goal against Pakistan.
He took part in the Montreal ‘Olympics (1976) and in 1982 captained the Indian team of the World Cup and the Asia Cup at Karachi.
It is a matter of great personal satisfaction for Mr. Narinder Singh as he had been campaigning for the change of the name of the village with Ministers, MPs and MLAs. Not many know that many leading sportsmen, including Gulab Singh, Hari Chand, and Gita Zutshi, prefer to stay in the modest house of Mr. Narinder Singh whenever they are in town.
Mr. Narinder Singh is a Superintendent in the Punjab Civil Secretariat.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 18, 1987
