New Delhi: Late CPI(M) leader Harkishan
Singh Surjeet has many things to his credit but very few know
that he has the distinction of choosing his own date of birth.
This and other small unknown facets of his life are
part of a booklet, which was launched by the CPI(M) on his
94th birth anniversary today.
Surjeet was born in 1916 in a peasant family in
Jalandhar.
"As was common among rural families at the time, the
date of birth was not recorded. Later in life, when Comrade
Surjeet had to give his birth date, he chose March 23, the day
his childhood hero Bhagat Singh was martyred," the booklet
said.
Party General Secretary Prakash Karat released the
book by presenting a copy to Surjeet`s wife Pritam Kaur at the
CPI(M) headquarters today.
"We have to learn a lot from the life of Comrade
Surjeet. He has played a significant role in organising the
Communist movement and peasant struggle in the country," he
said.
He said the party will come out with similar booklets
on the life and times of nine senior leaders who were the
founding members and the first Politburo members of the CPI
(M), which had split from CPI in 1964.
PTI
