Mother Paramjit Kaur and father Ajit Singh. file photos
Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 7
A septuagenarian who had fought for 10 years to get a Jalandhar-based colony named after his martyred son (Lt Gurbinder Singh), succumbed to the Covid-19 on Wednesday.
Both parents of the martyr lost their lives due to the contagion in a quick succession.
While his mother, Paramjit Kaur (66), breathed her last on September 26, his father, Ajit Singh (77), died on October 7. Lt Gurbinder was a part of the advance party, when he was killed by insurgents on December 10, 2001 in Kashmir.
Ajit is the same man, who had in March 2016, sought permission from the district administration to commit suicide. The trigger for his appeal was the fact that the name of the colony –‘Shaheed Lt Gurbinder Singh Nagar’ named after his son in 2005 – was changed to ‘British Town’ on the insistence of some residents by the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation.
Following a long drawn battle and an inquiry by the Deputy Commissioner following Ajit’s appeal, the name of the colony was renamed ‘Shaheed Lt Gurbinder Singh Nagar’.
Lt Gurbinder’s brother Davinder Singh said, “My father fought for the respect to be accorded to his martyred son for 10 years. My mother never revived from the shock. She became diabetic due to the trauma of my brother’s death and had to undergo dialysis twice a week even during the pandemic. She tested positive on September 10 and died on September 26. My father got sick soon after.”
Lt Gurbinder’s elder brother Col Khushwinder Singh said, “My mother and father underwent immense trauma while fighting for my brother’s rights. Mother was pained at the ordeal my father went through. Sardar Ajit Singh’s son fought the Pakistanis on the border, but the former had to fight his own people to give him respect. In 2007, the name of the colony was clandestinely changed to ‘British Town’. Is this how martyrs are rewarded? The colony was finally renamed, but after a long drawn fight. Residents defaced and blackened boards. Still many of those adamant have stuck nameplates reading ‘British Town’.”