Except for the family and a few villagers, no Government or politician over the years remembers Chamel Singh, the Indian who was tortured to death in a Pakistani jail and whose hapless family was never given compensation despite his ‘martyrdom’. MOHIT KANDHARI revisits Chamel’s village to find out how the family is convulsing and still waiting for justice and money for survival
In 2008, when an Indian farmer Chamel Singh went missing from his native village in Pargwal area of Akhnoor in Jammu province, his wife Kamlesh Devi, mother of four children, waited for a long time to know about his whereabouts. After waiting for about four long years she first received a personal letter written from the Kot lakhpat jail in Pakistan. It was from Chamel Singh and it carried a vivid description of the circumstances leading to his arrest. He said in the letter that he would soon return home after completing a five-year jail term. But before Chamel Singh could return, he was mercilessly tortured to death by the Pakistani jail authorities on January 15, 2013.
Chamel was booked for espionage and was brutalised in custody. As media reports with details of painful torture went viral, an angry nation reacted strongly and called for firm action against those who had perpetrated this crime against a jail inmate with scant regard to human rights. Though the jail authorities planned an elaborate cover up claiming that Singh died due to a heart attack, eyewitness accounts of other inmates confirmed and exposed the brutal attack on him.
Even after his death when Chamel’s family demanded his body, the jail authorities took refuge in diplomatic delays and stalled the entire process to gain time. In Jammu, the distraught family, with meagre resources at its disposal, had to wait for 57 days before the Pakistani authorities handed over Chamel’s body to the Indian authorities at Wagah border. Politicians cutting across party lines made a beeline in front of news cameras speaking passionately about the wrong done on Chamel. His torturous death became a subject matter of intense election campaign during the lok Sabha and later Assembly polls and adequate compensation was promised to his kin.
When the compensation was unduly delayed, the BJP accused the Congress of ignoring the plight of a patriotic but poor family. The UPA Government was also charged with going soft on Pakistan thereby emboldening the neighbour to carry out such audacious strikes against Indian jail inmates. Months later, in April 2013, when another Indian citizen Sarabjeet Singh, convicted in a series of bomb blast cases in Pakistan, was attacked inside the same jail, an angry India reacted again.
As Sarabjeet Singh succumbed to his injuries in a lahore hospital, Indian authorities reacted swiftly and stationed an aircraft to airlift the body after mounting diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. This time the nation’s mood was different. Sarabjeet’s family was lucky to have received popular support in their lonely fight. Starting from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, leaders of mainstream Opposition parties, Congress top brass, including Rahul Gandhi lined up to pay homage to Sarabjeet. A three-day mourning was announced by the Punjab Government after according him a State funeral.
The State and the Central Government reacted in time and paid hefty compensation of Rs1.25 crore to Sarabjeet’s widow along with a State Government job for both his daughters. In contrast, Chamel’s kin continue to wait for justice and even a paltry compensation. Neither the Central leaders nor former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah found it appropriate to visit his family and offer condolences.
local Congress MlAs cared even less to forward the demand for adequate compensation. During all these months, whenever the media has brought this issue to the fore, senior State leaders, including former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, paid lip service and termed the decision to not compensate Chamel’s kin as unfortunate. As Chief Minister, when Omar Abdullah was confronted by mediapersons about the plight of the family, he washed his hands off by claiming that it was for the Centre to decide the matter of awarding the compensation.
After a change of guard at the Centre and also in the State, hopes of the family were raised but the assistance is nowhere to be seen. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in an election speech in Jammu on December 1, 2013, paid homage to Chamel and even asked the media why they had highlighted the case of Sarabjeet Singh but ignored the plight of Chamel’s kin. However, Chamel’s family continues to wait for justice and compensation.
When this correspondent visited the family in its native Bhalwal Molu village, Kamlesh Devi told this correspondent: “I prefer sitting here right in front of my husband’s picture. His image reminds of the long struggle he made in his life to build his house. And when it was time for him to relax at home and enjoy the fruit of his labour, he was tortured to death in enemy country.” She added: “I will continue to fight for justice and martyr status for my husband till my last breath.”
Kamlesh wonders when two other Indian citizens died under similar circumstances in the Pakistani jail why a yardstick was used to compensate their kin. Chamel’s elder son Dara Singh who earns his livelihood as a daily wager in his village told Sunday Pioneer: “In Jammu & Kashmir, a surrendered militant can avail of compensation under the ‘healing touch’ policy, a stone pelter is covered under the amnesty scheme, victims of cross-border firing too get compensation but there exists no provision for compensation/relief to the family of victims brutally murdered inside Pakistani jails.”
Quoting the State Government’s recent response on the issue in the Assembly, Dara said that during the recent Budget Session when BJP MlA Sat Sharma raised the issue of compensation for the kin of Chamel, Minister-in-Charge, Home Department, said that no compensation/relief has been provided to the family as there is no provision of compensation in such cases.
Referring to unfulfilled political promises Chamel’s younger son Deepak said: “The Central Government, headed by Manmohan Singh and Akali Dal-led alliance Government in Punjab, compensated Sarabjeet’s family, provided a Government job to his daughter and also bestowed the title of ‘martyr’ on him. In contrast, more than 28 months have passed and we are still awaiting justice from the State and Central Governments.” He said, “It is very unfortunate that the State Government maintains that there is no provision to compensate families of victims in such cases. We are not begging. Our father sacrificed his life inside a Pakistani jail and no one in the Government is willing to help us,” he added.
Talking about the issue, Sat Pal Sharma said that “before the shifting of the Durbar I had handed over a request letter to the Principal Secretary seeking an audience with the Chief Minister along with Chamel’s family. Till date, I have not received any formal response from the CM’s office.” Deepak talked of how since December 22, 2008 when Chamel went missing, the family has been suffering in isolation. “We could not complete our studies due to poverty. My elder brother and I had to step out to earn our livelihood. Even after the death of our father, no one has come forward to help us,” he said.
Dara earns Rs250 a day as daily wage. The paltry sum is insufficient to support his large family. “My younger brother is also working with a local contractor and sometimes goes out of the State to support the family,” said Dara who has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver justice to his family. While in Opposition, the BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and State Prabhari Avinash Rai Khanna had demanded compensation to the tune of Rs1.35 crore for Chamel’s family in May 2013.
“Compensation of Rs1 crore should be given by the Jammu & Kashmir Government while Rs25 lakh should be given by the Centre,” Khanna had said while handing over a cheque of Rs3 lakh to Kamlesh in Chandigarh. Now, after coming to power, both at the Centre and in the State, the same leaders have been silent on the issue. During the Assembly polls, when Khanna was repeatedly asked about the relief package to Chamel’s family, he maintained that the BJP was committed to compensate his family but could not do so due to the model code of conduct. “How many times do we need to highlight the plight of our family. We are growing tired of repeating appeals in front of the political leadership of the State and the country,” Deepak said.
Stark reality
In the absence of any uniform policy, citizens returning from Pakistan after completing their jail term continue to suffer due to the whims and fancies of politicians and bureaucrats. The comparison between the cases of Sarabjeet Singh and Chamel Singh bring out this stark reality and also exposes the loopholes in our governance system.
When Chamel succumbed to his injuries in the Pakistani jail, no effort was made by the Indian Government to bring back his body. It is only after a hue and cry was raised and pressure mounted by civil society that the Government, through its High Commissioner in Pakistan, started negotiating the release of Chamel’s body after necessary investigations.
It took more than 57 days for Pakistani authorities to hand over the body to their Indian counterparts. Another controversy surfaced when Chamel’s family claimed that his body organs had been tampered with during post mortem investigations and accused the Pakistani authorities of even torturing even the dead body.
Chamel’s body came via the Wagah Border in an ambulance and handed over to the State authorities for transportation to Jammu. In contrast, when Sarabjeet’s body was airlifted to India in a special flight and he was cremated with full State honours by the Punjab Government. His family was awarded Rs1 crore compensation and, in addition, the Centre gave an ex-gratia of Rs25 lakh from the PM’s relief fund. His two daughters were given Government job offers.
On the other hand, Chamel was cremated in his native village by his family and no one from the Government attended the funeral. Till date not a single penny has been awarded to his kin nor any job offered to his sons. There has been no response whatsoever from the PM’s office to the letters written by Kamlesh. There has been no response either to the memorandum submitted to the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, nor to letters written to the President of India and the Chief Minister.
