In a one-of-a-kind incident, a retired Army officer in Himachal Pradesh disinherited his only son to punish him for his participation in the farmers’ protests against the Centre’s three new agriculture legislations.
Ajmer Singh, who retired from the Indian Army in 2005, runs a shop in Himachal’s Jamli village and is a part-time farmer. While he strongly supports the Centre’s new farm legislations, his son Paramjit Singh, participated in the farmers’ protests in New Delhi.
This act of rebellion did not go down well with Ajmer Singh. “I saw him (Paramjit) give interviews to some TV channels in Delhi. How could he do this?” asks Ajmer, who is still reeling from shock. Ajmer has also urged the Delhi Police to arrest his son.
The retired Army officer is of the opinion that the farmers’ agitation is backed by a few political parties with vested interests.
Lashing out at his son, Ajmer said that Paramjit knows nothing about farming. Justifying his decision to disinherit his son, Ajmer said that the latter attended the protests knowing well that such an act would displease him. “Let the Delhi police book him (Paramjit) for his anti-national act. The Centre’s three new laws are in the farmers’ interest. I wish I had more power to act against him but this is all I can do,” Ajmer said.
When contacted over phone Paramjit Singh admitted that he did attend the farmers agitation in Delhi.
"My father must have seen my interview or someone must have told him about it. Soon after that, he got annoyed and announced in our family WhatsApp group that he was disinheriting me. But I don’t think he’ll see it through,” Paramjit told Outlook.
BJP-ruled Himachal has so far been largely unaffected by the farmers’ agitation.
