Kashmir Singh

Early life

In his early life, he was in the Indian Army approx from 1962 to 1966. After working for the Punjab Police for a while, he took up spying on a contractual basis at the rate of Rs. 400 per month. Thereafter, he entered Pakistan in the guise of Ibrahim, a Muslim name. Using this name, he checked into hotels and got identity cards during his task.

Arrest

In 1973, he was arrested on the 22nd Milestone on the Peshawar-Rawalpindi road by Pakistani intelligence officers. Upon arrest, he was accused of espionage and smuggling but it could not be proved by the authorities. At the time of his arrest, his family included his wife, Paramjit Kaur, and three children under the age of 10.

Subsequently in the same year, he was sentenced to death by a Pakistan Army court. This verdict was upheld by a civil court in between 1976 and 1977 and a mercy petition followed this, but to no avail. After being sentenced to an indefinite jail term, he said that he "was tortured third degree for the first few months by the authorities" as they pressured him to confess of being an Indian spy. Singh was lodged in seven different jails in Pakistan and was "kept in solitary confinement and remained chained for 17 long years." For the total period of three and a half decades in captivity, he did not see the sky or have a single visitor.

Singh's entire family but for Paramjit, his wife had lost hope for his return. In 1986, when the Pakistan government released a few Indian prisoners, who were accused of spying, from the Lahore jail, the family knew that he was alive, but on a death sentence.

Release

In 2008, the caretaker Human rights minister Ansar Burney spotted him while visiting the Lahore jail. Burney said that Singh became mentally disabled after his years in jail. He immediately put up his case with the Government of Pakistan that sought Singh's release. He further added that he had "fought his case on humanitarian grounds as he [Singh] had spent 35 years in jail."

On seeing this, President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf expressed shock and disbelief and accepted this mercy petition and ordered for release and repatriation of Singh to India.

On 4 March 2008, he was released by Pakistan and entered India through the Wagah border amidst celebrations.

Aftermath

Later in India, he admitted that he was an Indian spy and did his best to serve the country, but deplored that successive governments at the Centre did nothing for his family. He was quoted to say that "After my arrest in 1974, the successive governments did nothing for my family. I did the duty assigned to me as a spy...but the government after my arrest did not bother to spend a single penny for my family." His wife Paramjeet Kaur was noted saying, "After my husband's arrest, the Central government gave no compensation to the family and left me in lurch."