Residents of Gah village in the Chakwal district of Punjab, Pakistan, are mourning the passing of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing a sense of personal loss akin to that of a family member. Altaf Hussain, a local teacher and Singh’s former classmate, said that the community came together for a condolence meeting to pay tribute to their fellow villager’s memory.
Manmohan Singh, who attended school in Gah until the fourth grade, was remembered fondly by those who knew him. His father, Gurmukh Singh, was a textile merchant, and his mother, Amrit Kaur, was a housewife. Friends affectionately called him ‘Mohna.’
Gah village is situated about 100 km southwest of Islamabad and was part of Jhelum district at the time of Singh’s birth, later becoming part of Chakwal district in 1986.
Singh’s rise brought to spotlight his forgotten ancestral village, surrounded by lush fields. Some classmates who were around when he became prime minister in 2004 are dead now. But their families still live in Gah, and cherish the old link.
Raja Muhammad Ali, a schoolmate of Singh, had traveled to Delhi in 2008 to meet him. During the condolence meeting, Raja Ashiq Ali, nephew of Muhammad Ali, said that many villagers wished to attend Singh’s last rites in India but were unable to do so, so try gathered to hold a condolence meeting instead.
The pride of Gah village is evident as families reflect on their connection to Singh, celebrating the moment when he became Prime Minister in 2004. Ashiq Ali remarked on the collective pride felt by the village, recalling the days when they celebrated ‘a boy from our village’ achieving such a high office.
The village school, where Singh received his early education, holds a special place in the hearts of locals. His admission number was 187, and he enrolled on April 17, 1937. Singh’s success is credited with inspiring local development efforts, and there were discussions about naming the school in his honor.
After completing fourth grade, Singh’s family moved to Chakwal and later to Amritsar just before the Partition. Although he never returned to Gah, the villagers hope that someone from his family will visit to honor his memory now that he has passed away.
