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| A woeful tale of an Indian patriot | | Sawhney & Indian State | |
NEHA
JAMMU, Apr 22: The frustrated and practically abandoned former Indian spy Vinod Sawhney on Friday took an extreme step. He sat on fast-unto-death to attract the attention of the authorities towards his miserable plight. He did not forget to carry the national tricolour in his hand. For, he is as committed to the national flag and national cause as before.
Who is this Sawhney? What has been his contribution to the nation? What is his crime? What is he saying and what does he want? Let's narrate his story in his own words. Bemoaning his neglect and expressing his unhappiness over the kind of treatment he has been meted out by the authorities in the state and at the centre, he on Friday said: "After giving my prime to the country, I now realise that there is no difference between secret agencies and militant organisations because both are brutal and ruthless. I was a small-time cab driver content with my job before I fell into the trap of an officer from a particular intelligence agency. Soon after I was arrested in Dabowali in Sialkot district of Pakistan, this agency turned its back on me and my family back home. After 11 long years, I was finally set free and I returned home via the Wagah border in 1988. Since then I have been running from pillar to post writing letters to the Union President, Prime Minister, Home Minister, Governor, State Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, then Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, present Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and Higher Education Minister A B Malik seeking rehabilitation. But except for assurances, nothing so far has come my way".
Sawhney, in addition, recollected the names of some other Indian spies. They included "Kuldeep Kumar Yadav of Ahmedabad, Surjeet Singh of Ferozepur, Waryam Singh of Rajasthan, Khakhi Hussain of Srinagar, Hari Chand of Orissa, Nazir Ahmed of Rajouri and Om Prakash of Kathua", who, according to him, still "continue to languish in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore". He claims that more than 200 Indian secret agents are still languishing and suffering in the various Pakistani jails.
It was during the intervening night of August 17 and 18 in1977 that an official of a particular intelligence agency launched the nearly 24-year-old Sawhney on an espionage mission to Pakistan. He was launched from Suchetgarh sector. Before he could accomplish the job assigned to him, he was arrested. He was convicted under the Pakistani Army Act and was set free only in 1988. In between, he was kept in different jails in Sahiwal, Multan, Mianwali and Lahore. During all these 11 years in the various Pakistani jails, he was subjected to the third degree torture or senseless brutalities umpteen times. "I shudder recalling the third degree torture and inhumane treatment meted out to me in different Pakistani prisons for 11 long years," this frail and dejected former secret agent says.
How sad! Indeed, it is a very sad reflection on the custodians of the Indian State. This 59-year-old son of India, who suffered torture and what not for the nation's cause, is not demanding Moon. He is simply making fervent appeals to the authorities seeking his rehabilitation so that he could live a dignified life, but without evoking any response from the authorities. It is disgusting that while the authorities are prepared to go to any extent to welcome and rehabilitate with dignity those with blood of the Indian army and innocent Indians on their hands, they have nothing whatever in their scheme of things for the poor Sawhney. This is India we live in and make sacrifices for. It is heartening to note that the media has come forward in a big way to project his case and ensure that Sawhney gets what he legitimately deserves since long. |
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