Col Paramjit Singh (Retd)
Come what may. Soldier is always a soldier. You take a man out of the military but you can’t take the military out of him . This is absolutely true. Soldiers are always true patriots and doing something good for the society as much as possible.
Same in true for Late Subedar Mulkhraj of erstwhile village of Chammb ( now part of Pakistan). Subedaar sahib did proud not to his own village alone, but , to other adjoining villages of Chammb too , including some like Deva, Dhoka also colloquially called Toka , Tooren di Banni, Kothe, Peerkanzi, Sardari, Ullanaahli, Sekhsar, Moel, Baniyan, Kogi, Barsala, Burejal, Phagla, Namachak , Singri, Kharowal, Manawar and Zhanda. He was a renowned personality and a great performer and reformer of his time.
He joined Indian Army 7/2 Punjab (2 Punjab), commanded by the British in the year 1922. He served in Burma, Africa, Japan and many other countries. His unit was a part of allied forces and fought gallant operations in various countries from 1939-1945 (WW-11), that is an era of second world war. And his unit also fought successful operations in northern frontier borders during 1933, for which he was awarded a meritorious medal for his services in this area too.
During partition of India – Pakistan, 7/2 ( 2 Punjab) was ordered to be a part of Pakistan. Subedar Sahib Ji resigned from the Army and took volunteer retirement as he didn’t want to settle in Pakistan. So, he retired gracefully. During his service, for his good services rendered and par excellence performance both during peace and war , he was awarded mentioned in despatches (MiD), called zanginama for his gallant and distinguished services and a letter of appreciation on his retirement by a Field Marshal on 18 January 1947 . A proud moment for all chammbites. Really speaking, a great honor. To mention, he was paid Rs 40 extra per month , over and above his salary vis a vis other junior commissioned officers, for his name mentioned in dispatches. Please note the total salary of a junior commissioned officer, called JEMADAR during that time was merely Rs 60.
During his active service , he had also earned many medals and stars, some (The Burma star, The Africa star, The 1939-1945 star and other medals) were found oblique retrieved from an old box by his worthy son Captain Surajban Choudhary. In the present status, these are of late gracefully and gleefully retained with due respect to his late father by Captain Surajban Choudhary . Some stars and medals had been misplaced and not found.
After retirement in 1947 he did an excellent service towards his society in a most perfect manner with precision sincerity, integrity , full devotion , dedication and flawless commitment. A soldier full of enthusiasm, discipline and unflinching integrity. He proved that a soldier never retires and a soldier is always a soldier, come what may, because he remains fully focused towards achievement of mission. He pioneered and raised a militia type local army (self sustaining and self defending), consisting of local volunteers, who also joined him for a good cause towards society with their personal licensed weapons (303 rifles, single barrel or double barrel rifles) in achievement of his societal mission . The mission was safeguarding the local frontiers of Chammb area , comprising of villages as mentioned above against invaders (qabalis). The mission was well accomplished and invaders could not succeed and were kept at bay. The unity is supreme and it matters the most amidst trying circumstances.
The development of any country or society largely depends on the education system of that country. Considering the benefits of education most important , an idea emerged in his mind that is to raise the education standards of local population so that people get well qualified and thereafter are in a better position to compete and get suitable employment. Exactly well thought of, well planned and well implemented aim of educating locals paid rich dividends. Firstly efforts were put in place and best foot forward thought to employ some brilliant boys as teachers for imparting high quality education to locals. With this aim flashing in his mind, two contemporary students (Dilbag Rai Choudhary and Mela Ram Choudhary- his own elder son) were picked up and motivated to work hard and asked to get employed as teachers. Exactly it so happened that fortunately both made in the merit list and based on their meritocracy, were selected and subsequently employed as teachers. Thereafter the standard of education in the area improved quite a bit through hardwork of these two dedicated and committed teachers, who left no stone unturned to give their best In imparting education to locals. The efforts of subedar sahib proved fruitful and many students became officers, engineers, doctors . The people as of today, still remember their Almamater that is Chammb Higher Secondary School. Over a period of time , upgradation of Chammb Primary School to Middle School and thereafter to higher secondary school say in the year 1964 was due to persistent unstopping efforts of Subedar Mulkhraj Sahib and his team of dedicated locals, who all worked tirelessly, unitedly, unidirectionally and round the clock without any regard to their personal interests.
The unquestionable and unwavering, but most wanted leadership of sahibji was a hall mark of his great personality, beyond doubt. They (the complete team camaraderie) all together amply proved, United we stand Divided we fall. That’s it. The selfless leadership (without any personal interests involved) of Late Subedar Mulkhraj Raj is worth mentioning and penning down. Moreover, his family has contributed immensely for the Indian armed forces and even his son Captain Surajban Choudhary retired from the army.
As of today, Late Subedar Mulkhraj’s two grand sons are serving in the Indian armed forces and are doing very well. The elder grandson, Colonel Vinod Kumar Choudhary is a Commanding Officer ( CO), commanding his parent unit in which he was commissioned. The younger grandson, Major Gagandeep Singh Choudhary is equally , professionally highly competent and is serving as an officer in an elite unit of Indian Army. Overall subedar sahib’s family has contributed greatly to the Indian armed forces, a great honor to be proud of. Soldiers never die , they just fade away. Don’t stop. Good job keep doing. One day someone might out of the blue, highlight the same in some form or the other which is well meaning and worth remembering and of course emulating too by others. Hats off to the selfless services rendered by late Subedar Mulkhraj of Village Chammb. He earned the title of Bapu Ji in the family and outside. A great man with his great integrity. His great love towards society and a great patriotic fervor is worth it and should not go unsung or unnoticed. He is a great inspiration and motivation for generations down the line.
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