Paramjit Kaur, daughter of Sepoy Jagraj Singh, carries a picture of her father in Bathinda. A Tribune photograph

Bharat Khanna

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 4

Even as the war hysteria had gripped the minds of residents of the state and other border states but families of “martyrs” of the Indo-Pak Wars, who are allegedly lodged in jails of Pakistan, are still perplexed about their existence.The Indian Army had declared these sepoys as dead many years ago. But some of the “spys”, including Surjit Singh and Satish Kumar, released in 2012 from Pakistan, has defied claims of the Army. Since then families of these sepoys are running from pillar to post to get their near and dear ones released from Pakistan jails.Paramjit Kaur, daughter of Sepoy Jagraj Singh of Jeeda village in Bathinda, has been fighting to get her father back from Pakistan jails. Sepoy Jagraj (No. 1524871) of 102 Engr Regiment (Bombay) fought during the 1971 India-Pakistan War and was declared dead by the Indian Army in December 1971.“In September 2004, we got a letter from the Central Government that my father Jagraj Singh is lodged in a Pakistan jail and then in 2012, a spy, Surjit Singh, confirmed of having spent his jail term with my father in Shahi Qila Jail of Pakistan. Though a number of peace and trade initiatives between India-Pakistan took place, the Union Government did nothing to bring back its soldiers who went missing during the war. I was 14- month-old when I lost my father, who is now lodged in a Pakistan jail,” she said.The family of Bagher Singh (No. 4441319) who was declared dead on September 1, 1965, by the Indian Army is still fighting to get it confirmed and get him released from Pakistan jail as in the previous year, a spy, Satish Kumar, claimed that he was alive and lodged in a Pakistan Jail.Bagher, a 24-year-old youngster then, was enrolled by the Indian Army on May 18, 1963, and was part of the ‘6 Sikh Light Infantry’ when he was reportedly ‘killed in action’ in September 1965.Satish claimed that during his own jail term he had spent time with Sepoy Bagher in the Shahi Qila Jail in Lahore, Pakistan.“There are around 176 Indian soldiers of the 1965 Indo-Pak War and about 182 Indian soldiers of the 1971 India-Pakistan War who are lodged in different jails of Pakistan. I had spent about 12.5 years in various jails of Pakistan, including a jail in Rawalpindi; Qila Attak Army Jail, Peshawar; Shahi Qila, Lahore; Kot Lakhpat Jail; Central Jail, Meeyanwali; Bahabalpur; and other jails. In 1974, I had met Bagher Singh of Mansa, Jugraj Singh of Bathinda, and a person from Gurdaspur and many others. Many of these are declared dead by the Indian Government.” he said.Living her life as widow, Bagher Singh’s wife Gurdev Kaur passed away around a year ago taking her husband as dead. She gave birth to four sons, Jagroop Singh (54), Balvir Singh (52), Major Singh (51) and Makkhan Singh (51).I was 5 when I lost my father, says soldier’s sonBagher’s eldest son Jagroop said: “For the past many months we had not slept in peace after a spy revealed that he had seen my father alive, years after the Indian Army declared him dead. I was around 5-year-old when I lost my father, even he was alive or dead, as I never saw him after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Earlier, the Army declared my father as ‘missing’ but after some months they declared him dead. The Army or we never got any clue that he was dead. Many times my unconvinced mother used to say that our father will return someday but then she used to convince herself that he was no more and might have been killed.”