Spies of Punjab, 'shown steps of gold'
May 06, 2013 10:34
For one Sarabjit Singh, whose death brought politicians to his funeral and financial assistance for his family, the Punjab countryside is dotted with scores of men knocking on the doors of courts seeking compensation for the years many of them spent in Pakistani jails, and recognition of their services as spies for India.
Neither the government nor his family has ever acknowledged that Sarabjit -- who died this week after being attacked by fellow prisoners in a Lahore jail -- was a spy.
Indeed, in the years before the campaign for commutation of the death sentence he received in 1991 gained momentum, none of the men who now say they were spies dared to approach the courts.
Most melted back into the poverty-stricken lives they left before joining the dangerous world of espionage whose golden rule -- if you are caught you are on your own -- was, they claim, never disclosed to them. But Sarabjit's saga slowly emboldened many former spies in Punjab and Jammu to file petitions, none of which have been viewed positively by the courts so far.
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