Dr. Sohan Singh (1882–1961) of Amritsar was a pioneering eye surgeon, teacher, and quiet philanthropist who spent his life restoring sight to people across northern India. In 1956 he received the Padma Shri from India’s first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, in recognition of his decades of service.

Early years and a brilliant start

Born in November 1882 in the village of Sahowala (District Sialkot, undivided India), Sohan Singh grew up in a disciplined, deeply religious Sikh family. His father, Dr. Jagat Singh, served as a medic in the British Indian Army. Young Sohan studied in village schools, then at Government High School Sialkot and D.A.V. College Lahore, before joining King Edward Medical College, Lahore.

He was an outstanding student — standing first in every year of his medical course and winning the Burton Brown Medal in Medicine in 1907. That same year he earned his L.M.S. (Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery) and joined the Provincial Civil Medical Services.

The surgeon who made cataract operations almost routine

From 1908 onward he worked in the eye wards of Mayo Hospital, Lahore, and later taught anatomy and diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat at the Medical School in Amritsar. He retired in 1939 as Vice-Principal of the Medical School, Amritsar.

He became famous for his mastery of the Smith’s tumbling technique for cataract surgery using a von Graefe’s knife. Patients and colleagues remembered how quickly and cleanly he worked.

A typical scene in one of his free camps:

An elderly farmer is brought in, both eyes opaque.

“Doctor Sahib, I have not seen my grandchildren’s faces for three years…”

Dr. Sohan Singh examines him carefully, then says with quiet confidence:

“Bhai, the cloud can be removed. Lie still. In a few minutes the light will return. Do not worry about the cost — this is seva.”

He performed thousands of such free operations, especially at Ambala and the Central Khalsa Hospital in Tarn Taran. He never turned away the poor.

Honours and a restless mind

The British government conferred on him the titles Sardar Sahib (1924) and Sardar Bahadur (1938). He was appointed Honorary Assistant Surgeon to the Viceroy (1937–1939). He received the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935) and King George VI Coronation Medal (1937). After Independence came the Padma Shri in 1956, and in 1958 the Sword of Honour from Khalsa College Amritsar.

He kept learning. In 1933 he spent three months visiting hospitals in Vienna, Berlin, Paris and London, returning with a Zeiss slit-lamp and a diathermy machine — then cutting-edge equipment for India.

The man beyond the operating table

He was an avid horseman who trained fine Arab horses himself and once rode to work every day. Later, cars became his passion. Fluent in Punjabi, Urdu, English and Farsi, he could speak comfortingly to patients from Afghanistan in their own tongue. He remained deeply rooted in Sikh faith, reciting shabads daily throughout his life.

At home he lived simply with his wife, Sardarni Kartar Kaur, a woman of great quiet wisdom though she had no formal education. He passed away on 5 April 1961 after a short illness, still alert and dictating translations from the Guru Granth Sahib almost until the end.

Today the Dr. Sohan Singh Eye Hospital in Amritsar carries his name and continues the tradition of skilled, compassionate eye care he began more than a century ago.

Dr. Sohan Singh never sought the spotlight. He simply believed that no one should live in darkness for want of a skilled hand and a willing heart. In the dusty wards and free camps of pre-Independence and early independent India, he gave thousands of people back the gift of sight — and with it, their dignity.