Once, they spied for their country. Now, they work as daily wage workers

Six former spies for India who now live in povery have filed a case in the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking compensation or permanent jobs from the government.

Kabul Singh, Mohinder Singh, Balbir Singh, Balwinder Singh, Illaha Masih and Balvinder Singh, all of Amritsar district in Punjab, took up the offer to spy in Pakistan in 1971-72 because they were in dire financial straits. But they were caught 1974 and 1975 and imprisoned. They were allowed to return home only in 1986.

When they were recruited they were promised permanent employment in the intelligence agencies that picked them. But once they returned, their employers refuse to recognise them, they claim. Now, facing public censure after the matter reached the courts, the agencies are offering them compensation on condition they withdraw the case.

Kabul Singh of Sarja Mirza village was just 19 when he became a spy in 1972. Just past his matriculation, Kabul was looking for a job and accepted the offer from an intelligence agency. Kabul made a number of trips to Pakistan and passed on vital documents relating to its military build-up. He was arrested in 1975, tortured and jailed.

"Neither my wife nor my parents knew anything about my job,’’ he says. It was only after his arrest in Pakistan that his family learnt he was a spy. A month later his wife gave birth to a baby girl, whom he saw only when she was 11. Kabul works as a daily wage agricultural worker.

Mohinder Singh of Guru ki Wadli village had a worse time. While he was in prison, his parents, brother and sister died, and he had to sell off his 1.5 acres of land after he was repatriated in 1986. Now he works on daily wages at a local industrial unit.

Other spies who have turned daily wage workers are Balbir Singh of Narowal Jinder village, Balwinder Singh of Gasubad village and Illaha Masih and Balvinder Singh of Ajnala town. "I spent… my youth behind bars," says a bitter Balbir, who regrets he ever worked for the government.

They hope the courts will be correct the injustice done to them. Meanwhile, the intelligence agencies that hired them are trying to avoid censure, promising to recompense them if they get the issue out of the courts and, consequently, the public eye.