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Kashmir Singh, who was freed from Pakistani jail after 35 years, on Friday admitted that he was an Indian spy and did his best to serve the country, but deplored that successive governments at the Centre did nothing for his family.
"After my arrest in 1974, the successive governments did nothing for my family. I did the duty assigned to me as a spy, but the government, after my arrest, did not bother to spend a single penny for my family," a calm and composed looking Singh, who was accompanied by his wife Paramjeet Kaur, said.
Sixty-seven-year-old Singh thanked God for being kind to him and said the various governments at the Centre did nothing for any of the prisoners languishing in various jails in Pakistan.
"The Central government did not bother to take care of my family following my arrest. The government does only the paper work," he said.
Asked whether he was sent to Pakistan by the military intelligence and the route he took to go there, Singh said, "Even Pakistan authorities failed to get this information from me. I was paid Rs 400 as salary. As per duty, I went to serve the country," he said.
Asked what he would like to say for some other people who are working in similar kind of professions, Singh said, "I was a spy and did my duty. About others I will not comment, I am not President of the country to give a reply to such queries".
Singh, who was lodged in seven different jails in Pakistan, said, "I will not tell the story of my ordeal in Pakistani prisons as it will damage the cases of about 100 other such prisoners languishing in jails there".
"I can only say that I am a firm believer in God and even offered namaz and kept roza (fast) in the Pakistani jails," he said.
When asked how she managed to sustain her family, Kaur said, "I worked as maid".
"After my husband's arrest, the Central government gave no compensation to the family and left me in a lurch," she said.
He said in Pakistani prisons, he was known by the name 'Ibrahim'. "I was kept in solitary confinement and remained chained for 17 long years", he said.
Earlier, Singh along with his wife met Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who announced a pension of Rs 5000 per month each to Kashmir Singh and his wife Parmajit Kaur in recognition of his 'outstanding services' towards the nation.
Badal also promised to grant a government job to one eligible dependent of Kashmir Singh.
Badal said that, if necessary, the Punjab government would go beyond the existing policy for such cases and take the matter to the Cabinet as a 'one off' case, because, in the chief minister's view, government rules were not above the sacrifice of patriots.
The chief minister also announced to bear the entire expenditure for the construction of a house for Kashmir Singh and his family over a plot donated by his media advisor Harcharan Bains in Mahilpur.
On the occasion, Badal and his wife Surinder Kaur Badal honoured the couple with a shawl and a garland and assured full support and cooperation to them on behalf of the Punjab government.