|
Sharma: “Mera Bharat Mahan
hai Gaddaro Key Liye”
THIS is not a fiction or part of a
Bollywood love-story script. Believe it or not! This is a real-life
story from Jammu & Kashmir. It is ingrained in Indian ethos, where
heroes are forgotten soon after their contribution ends for the
nation. Adding to the list, here is the story of 57 year old Amar Nath
Sharma, the ex-spy who scarified flower of his youth for the country,
but is today fighting a lonely battle for his pension. THE
VERDICT’s Special Correspondent, Sumit. Hakkoo,
reports from Jammu & Kashmir.
Forgotten by nation and betrayed by the Indian Army, Sharma, who
worked in the Military Intelligence Unit (MIU) from 1971-76, spent
near about 12 years in different Pakistani prisons including the
infamous Kote Lakhpath jail after he held by the Pakistan’s,
Anti-Espionage Unit, in 1976. After spending over a decade in
different jails in Pakistan his miseries ended in 1988, when in
exchange for two Pak spies, he was released by the Pakistani Counter
Intelligence Unit (PCIU). Soon after his release, Sharma, realized
that every one for whom he worked for, has ditched him.
“Soon after I landed in India, the MIU, for which I worked for,
refused to help me or acknowledge the contributions I put in while
service,” says a beaming Amar Nath, looking at the sky..
His life history can compete with any Bond-movie script. Born in 1950
in border district of Poonch; Amar Nath joined as a Sepoy in 11
J&K Light Infantry Brigade and soon found himself engaged in fierce
battle to defend the strategic Goteria post during the 1971 Bangladesh
liberation war. According to him after the war he was enrolled in MIU
by a young Major Ranjeet Singh (he is now a Brigadier based in Poona),
and after a brief stint in J&K crossed over to Pakistan from Dera Baba
Nanak sector in Punjab.
His real test was in Lahore where he established himself as s
businessman and married a local girl there. According to Sharma, while
in Pakistan he gathered vital defense related information for the
Indian army. But an ill luck struck him in the year 1976, when the
Pakistani Military Counter Intelligence Unit caught one of his
contacts, while he was crossing over to Indian Territory. Sharma says
that, “during interrogation the contact under custody spelled the
beans about Sharma and his network in Lahore and other parts of
Pakistan.. “It was the end of my spy career and start of my miseries
and twelve years of torture, only god can understand what I have been
through those years when I was in Pakistani jails”, adds Amar Nath
while narrating his harrowing experiences.
Today a totally ruined man with everyone right from defense
authorities and even his family turning his back towards him, his only
solace still is his unselfish love for the motherland.
“Major Saheb (Ranjeet Singh) never met me after I was released
from Pakistan, I took all the hardship because of my love for
motherland for which I left my family, my dreams and my whole life,”
said Sharma. Adding further “I just was that my pension be regularized
so that I can now live my life in peace”.
But so far defense ministry has not forwarded his case and he still is
running from pillar to post for his right. “My only regret is that
despite of sacrificing my whole life for the cause of the country, no
one has recognised it. I have learned only one lesson from all this:
“mera bharat mahan hai gaddaro key liye”
post your comments here |
