A man can fight anything but his luck. This phrase hold true for many and one of them is our friend Kashmir Singh. For those who haven’t heard the name before; this Indian national spend thirty five years of his life in a Pakistani prison behind the bars. He was caught on espionage charges and sentenced to death. But God had other plans, he spend 35 years in different Pakistani jails.
He left a 5 year old son who is now 40 and leaded a life of an orphan. ‘Only we know how we survived through this time. I worked as a laborer to raise my children,” said Paramjit Kaur, Kashmir Singh’s wife. To his jail inmates Kashmir Singh is Ibrahim who converted to Islam and now offers 5 time prayer. This release might improve the Indo-Pak relations. And prisoners like Kashmir Ibrahim Singh on both sides of the border will be the beneficiaries.
On a personal note I feel very sorry for the man; I know he was once an Indian spy on Pakistani land and the punishment for spying is death in every country. But I am sure nobody joins the secret services picturing James Bond in mind. The guy must have done it for money, country and then for uniform. But things turn out to be absolutely apposite to what we always plan. That’s the natural law, you can’t fight your luck or can you?
‘This world is nothing but a playground but we haven’t created it for fun [amusement] or excitement’ says the Quran. I want to put up a question to the readers Muslim or non muslim; that are we ready for such challenges. We don’t have hearts of iron, we cry when it hurts, we moan when we loose the ability to control the pain. So are we up for this immense challenge? If not then we wouldn’t have been assigned for this task.
Apparently Kashmir Singh aka Ibrahim is getting a lot of media attention. The retired general (Musharraf) did a good deed and wants the media to show it. Like we Pakistanis will overlook the fact that the real chief justice and all of his family members including his 11 year old handicapped kid is house arrested for NOTHINGGGGGGGGGGG !!
This world is full of hypocrites. No body even smile at someone just for the sake of it. And now Kashmir Singh/Ibrahim will take a close look at this new world. His friends and family members are waiting for him on Wagah border with flowers and love. I am sure they will do the bhangraaa 
at his arrival 
I wish he spent the rest of his life in peace and I hope that the Indian Govt. will provide the Pakistani families something to celebrate by releasing some prisoners.
Maybe someday we won’t feel the need of sending spies across the border. And these brave men get never separated from their families again. In the end I would like to give the missing Pakistani men who were never charged for anything and are spending their lives in the world not known to any one, especially their family members. I am talking about ‘The Missing Persons’. A gift from uncle Musharraf to our nation.
More on kashmir Singh, here here and here
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Comments
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I agree with you Ammar.//Maybe someday we won’t feel the need of sending spies across the border. And these brave men get never separated from their families again.//God bless you for such a kind thought.
thanx :)thats really kind of you.
thnx to uncle musharraf who thought of sendin kashmirr singh back to his family any other president never thought of doin this kind of deed and he wud rott in this jail for the rest of his life..
My idea would be that just like Bhagat Singh and Veer Zara, bollywood might be thinking of Kashmir Singh the next HIT right now
@ niki
you never know, yesterday all the lame ppl on the tele were whining about ‘its like Veer Zara…….Its like veer zara :P’
Ask poor Kashmir Singh how hip is he feeling after 35 years of no life 
@beeca
i guess u didnt watch the vdo!
Please advise, how the Muslims will react if a convert muslim re-embracres his original religion(Imagine,famous Pakistani Cricker Muhammad Yousuf becomes Yousuf Yohana again) I mean, Kashmir Singh converted to Islam and now he will be Sikh again. Enlighten me.
Raj
Lost in Calgary
A beautiful post Ammar..
My feelings exactly!
@ Raj
it duznt matter to me if Kashmir Singh is hindu muslim sikh christain! the only reason i felt sorry for the guy was that he wasted his 35 precious years. Like him many young Pakistanis; about 500 of them are wasting their lives in Indian prison. Their families are dying to see them.
As far as the conversion is concerned this is between him and God. I am nobody to judge his decisions. You cant force anyone to pray to one God or many Gods.
But its shocking how some ppl in India are reacting to this, as in its the crime of the century if one converts to Islam. Considering the fact that India got a huge Muslim population as well.
Thank you Lubna!
kisi ko tau achi lagi
@ Ammar:
Surprised to see the post ^o). Just knew this news since I am not in touch with the world for around 5 weeks…!
After looking at the video, I am just loving Pakistan Security Forces :@:@:@:@:@:@:@
dekh lo bass! :@
But its shocking how some ppl in India are reacting to this, as in its the crime of the century if one converts to Islam. Considering the fact that India got a huge Muslim population as well.
Ammar, it is not a crime if one converts to Islam. To lie and propogate that he converted to Islam is a crime. He never converted to Islam. Right after his release he went to Gurdwara Dera Sahib. He had a choice of so many Masjids in Lahore. Even some muslims are claiming that he Hifzed Holy Koran. Give me break, the guy did not see open skies in 35 years. Confined to darkness 23 hours a day. He did not have a single visitor. He was not trained to learn Arabic. It is very difficult to learn a foreign language at a mature age in general and Kashmir Singh’s conditions in particular. I doubted that the Jail Authorities gave him a tutor to Hifz Koran. Why common sense is so uncommon in Pakistan.
Keep on Reading this news from Times of India..
HOSHIARPUR: He was chained for 17 years and kept in solitary confinement where he got a mug of water daily to drink, wash and clean up. And as he sits back in his modest home, reminiscing about his days in incarceration, Kashmir Singh says he never converted to Islam and all he did was enter Pakistan in the guise of a Muslim named Ibrahim.
“I was kept in a dark 7×7 cell and given one pot of water for daily use. I bathed, cleaned, washed clothes and quenched my thirst with that one pot,” recalls Kashmir Singh at his village Nangal Choran.
In a contrast that couldn’t be sharper, his Italy-based son, Amarjeet Singh, celebrating his father’s return from Pakistan, is yet to cork the bottle of imported whisky — to mild chagrin of his parents.
Arrested on the 22nd Milestone on the Peshawar-Rawalpindi road by Pakistani intelligence sleuths for spying, Kashmir, who confesses to have been a spy, spoke to TOI about his long nightmare: Three and a half decades of torture, inhuman conditions and, worse, shackled existence for over 25 years.
“See my ankles,” he said in Punjabi as he raised his pyjama to show the bruise marks and swelling — a testimony to his chained existence. “I was tortured third degree for the first few months by the authorities as they pressured me to confess that I was an Indian spy.”
Kashmir, according to his family members, was in the Indian Army between 1962-66 and later joined Punjab Police. He quit the police force once he took up spying on a contract basis at Rs 400 per month.
Sentenced to death by a Pakistani Army court for spying — a verdict subsequently upheld by a civil court in 1976-77 — Kashmir said, “The metal would get hot in the summers and cold in the winters and I would sleep by adjusting the chain between my legs,” he recalled.
“In Punjabi, it’s called ‘kothi lag jana’,” which means the prisoner has been sentenced to death and, until the order is executed, will stay in a condemned cell.
“I had to be very careful about my behaviour. I never complained about the pathetic living conditions as that would enrage the officers. Instead, I kept asking for Islamic scriptures, to gain their sympathy,” he said.
Asked whether he was brainwashed against India or told to become a double agent, Kashmir said, “The only thing the authorities there told me was that India had refused to acknowledge me.”
Denying he ever converted to Islam, Kashmir said, “I am a Sikh. When you are a spy you have to assume a fake identity, which I did before leaving India,” he said.
“I used Muslim name in Pakistan to check into hotels, get identity cards and so on,” he added. Kashmir was shifted to many jails, the last being Kot Lakpath in Lahore, where he was spotted by Pakistan human rights minister, Ansar Burney.
According to Kashmir, another Indian prisoner, Gopal Dass, was in Lahore jail and Kashmir claims to have seen Sarabjit Singh as well, whose mercy petition was rejected by president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday.
No wonder he considers himself fortunate to have been released and thanks God for a fresh lease of life.
Did I not comment on this before? DOH..
Great story Ammar, thanks for sharing!
@ Supersizeme
Any time yar i am glad that you liked it.
nice info. He may or may not converted to Islam but thanks god that he got bed for sleep.
yes i agree
Letter in the DAWN 9 March 2008
Spy’s release
M. D. Tahir of the Lahore High Court Bar Association has filed a petition against Ansar Burney, caretaker federal minister, for giving protocol to convicted Indian national Kashmir Singh, pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf.
This man was convicted of espionage. Many Pakistanis are missing and their families are really in great anguish because their own state’s agencies have done these illegal acts. Mr Burney what have you been doing for such a long time?
Please do your job which requires immediate action. We all must raise our voice against such cheap publicity.
ABDUL QADER,
Karachi
What a shame that such a good deed is now being turned negative by the Pakistani media. And fame hungry media whores like this MD Tahir are trying to exploit it to their own advantage without any consideration for human rights.
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Ronin
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