After spending 35 yrs in Pak jail, ex-spy still wants to serve the nation

“I was being sent to Pakistan for the cause of the nation but my family did not get any compensation from Indian government since I was arrested in 1973 in Pakistan,” Singh said.

Singh was arrested on charges of spying in Pakistan while travelling in a bus running between Pesahwar and Rawalpindi.

He was first kept in an army jail and after five years he was shifted to civilian jail in Pakistan. During his 35 year in jail, Kashmir Singh escaped death sentence and later it was converted into life imprisonment, his media advisor, G C Bhardwaj said.

Singh, along with his wife Paramjeet Kaur and Bhardwaj, has been here in the city for past two days to meet M K Paul who is working for Indian prisoners languishing in Pakistan jails.

Bhardwaj, a retired Director of All India Radio and childhood friend to Kashmir Singh, lauded efforts made by Pakistan’s human rights activist Aheshan Burney to get Singh released from the jail. “We are thankful to Burney for taking the issue and giving new life to Kashmir Singh, Bhardwaj said.

Singh’s wife Paramjeet Kaur was honoured by Akhil Hind Mahila Parishad on Wednesday. According to Paul, the Parishad is going to write a letter to President Pratibha Patil and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to pay compensation to Paramjeet Kaur, “who waited for three-and-a-half decades without getting any compensation from Indian government.”