A powerful Indian love story of a Patriot beyond price and his dedicated wife!

 Story this Wednesday!

A powerful Indian love story of a Patriot beyond price and his dedicated wife!

At the Wagah Border, after 35 years, an old man Ibrahim with trembling steps entered Indian soil. His wife and grown children were waiting to receive him. And the moment he crossed the border, Ibrahim said something that stunned everyone. Till now, he had always pretended to be mentally unstable or just an ordinary civilian. But standing on Indian soil, he proudly declared: "Yes, I was an Indian spy. My name is Kashmir Singh. I fulfilled my duty. They kept me in jail for 35 years, but they could not extract a single word from me.”

Before Arrest Kashmir Singh                            35 years After Release from Pakistani Prison-Ibrahim

 

No regrets: Kashmir Singh with his wife Paramjit Kaur

Kashmir Singh returned to India after 35 years.His devoted wife, Paramjit Kaur, never lost hope over the decades that she would once again see the father of her three children. When he was captured, his wife Paramjit Kaur had three small children all under the age of ten missing husband. Everyone said Kashmir Singh must have died. But one person refused to believe it, his wife. She never wore white clothes, never broke her bangles. believed  he is alive, and he will return. In 1986, when Pakistan released a list of some Indian prisoners, it finally became known that Kashmir Singh was alive but listed as a death-row prisoner.

Little wonder then that when the couple were finally reunited along with one of their children their collective bear hug lasted perhaps a little longer than is socially acceptable in conservative South Asia. Clearly overwhelmed by a sense of disbelief and the moment itself, the 67-year-old Indian tightly clutched a plastic bag containing his meagre belongings. He waved goodbye to Pakistan and signaled his gratitude to a people who had long condemned him to the terrible solitude of a death row cell but in the end also became his liberators. Lustily cheered by the thousands who came to welcome him home, the short balding man sporting grey stubble took a moment to touch the earth then straightened up to greet them.

After struggling alone for 35 years, his wife Paramjit Kaur and son Shish pal had been camping at the border check post in anticipation of Mr Singh's imminent return. Border officers present said it was a "highly emotional moment, as they cried and laughed all at the same time". Referring to his spouse using the honorific, "begum", Mr Singh said that when he last saw her, she was a pretty young woman. "She is still beautiful but has grown old now," he laughed admitting that he remembered very little about his three children. He said it was his memory of his wife that kept his hopes alive through the 35 years of solitary confinement. 

A tearful Mr Singh hugged Mr Burney for a long time, and turned around to wave at scores of journalists and onlookers before stepping across the border. "I have no regrets for anything that happened to me that life is over," he said His grateful family lavished praise on President Musharraf for releasing him. "May he rule for 100 years," Paramjit Kaur told the BBC on being told the president had pardoned her long lost husband

Still incarcerated Convicted of espionage by a military court in 1973, Mr Singh's mercy petition was lost in the maze of Pakistan's prison system, where thousands of death row prisoners still languish without a hearing. It was only after Mr Burney's intervention last month that the campaign to release him gained momentum. Even after this, another 22 years passed. Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney visited the Lahore jail.
There he saw a frail, broken, nearly mentally shattered old man. Upon inquiry he learned — this man had been imprisoned for 35 years without any judicial process. On humanitarian grounds, Burney recommended his release to President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf approved it.4 March 2008. The former death row prisoner was filled with gratitude towards President Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan's caretaker Human Rights Minister, Ansar Burney, who has worked tirelessly to orchestrate his pardon and eventual repatriation. "Burney sahib is a Farishta (angel) for my family and me, God bless him," Mr. Singh said.

Will do it all again, says Punjab spy who came in from the cold 

A Patriot Beyond Price man who sacrificed his entire youth 35 years in Pakistan’s dark prison-a Hell .Pakistan’s intelligence officers were not fooled. Suspicion alone was enough for them to arrest him. Interrogation began. First the usual questions, then brutal torture. They told him: “Confess! You are an Indian spy. "But Ibrahim said nothing. This ‘Ibrahim’ was in fact Kashmir Singh, a former Indian Army soldier who had crossed into enemy territory on a monthly contract of just 400 rupees, changing his name, identity and even religion.

What happened after his arrest is terrifying even to read. Months of third-degree torture fingernails pulled out, electric shocks nothing was spared. Yet not a single secret escaped his lips. He was sentenced to death, but instead of hanging him, he was thrown into a dark, solitary cell left to rot forever Unbelievable but true for 17 continuous years, he remained chained inside a single small cell. Hands and feet in shackles, barely enough space to move. For three and a half decades he saw no sky, no sun, no human face. Jail guards thought he had gone insane. He himself began losing his sanity. But his mind… was made of steel. He knew one slip, one word, and the country would suffer.
His family’s honor would be destroyed.,17 years in chains for just 400 rupees a month, and for something far greater: his country. Kashmir Singh proved patriotism has no price. Meanwhile, Kashmir Singh and his wife have left for their village Nangal Choran in Punjab's Hoshiarpur District where the entire community is waiting to celebrate.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Kashmir Singh 

BBC – “A powerful Indian love story”

Searched, Compiled and Illustrated by Tejinder Kamboj

                     ( 1940-20??)