Kamlesh Devi, widow of Indian prisoner Chamel Singh, brutally murdered inside the high security Kot lakhpat jail in Pakistan three years ago, on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to announce martyr status and adequate compensation to the next of kin to sustain their livelihood.
Kamlesh Devi accompanied by her children also performed special prayers to mark the third death anniversary of her husband at her nondescript house in Pargwal area of Akhnoor tehsil of Jammu.
She also appealed to the State Govt authorities to process her case and send the file to Governor NN Vohra for early approval.
So far successive State and Central Governments have failed to award any compensation to the kin of Chamel Singh despite numerous reminders.
Angry villagers in Pargwal area claim, “Unlike Dadri lynching victim Mohd Akhlaq, where politicians made a beeline and State Government too lost no time in announcing 45 lakh cash assistance and four separate flats in Noida no one has bothered to come to the rescue of Chamel Singh’s kin in Jammu”.
Referring to another spy prisoner Sarabjit Singh from Punjab,who too was attacked inside the same jail and later succumbed to his fatal injuries, local villagers said the Central Government had sanctioned ex-gratia of Rs25 lakhs and the Punjab Govt paid 1 crore as cash assistance to the family besides according ‘martyr’ status and offering State Government jobs to two daughters but not a single penny has been sanctioned for the kin of Chamel Singh.”
The poor family of Chamel Singh has been running from pillar to post and handing over memorandas to senior State Government functionaries and meeting political leaders for help but in vain.
BJP MlA Sat Sharma, recently appointed State BJP chief in Jammu had shouldered his dead body when it arrived in Jammu via Wagah border too had demanaded 25 lakhs from the State Government but even his pleas went unnoticed despite running an alliance Government for a period of little over nine months.
Ironically, widow of Chamel Singh has been paid a paltry sum of Rs5000 towards relief by former Deputy CM of J&K.
Neither the State Government headed by Omar Abdullah nor Mufti Mohd Sayeed, during its term in office, announced any compensation for the poor family. Even the Union Government headed by Manmohan Singh sat over the case and now Narendra Modi led Government too has failed to deliver justice to the family.
In the absence of sole bread earner of the family the elder sons of Chamel Singh have been earning their livelihood as daily wage labourers.
Speaking to The Pioneer over telephone Deepak Singh, younger son of Chamel Singh said, “My mother has once again sent a speed post to the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking justice and adequate compensation”.
He said three years after my father was brutally murdered inside the jail in Pakistan we are still awaiting the State and the Central Government to deliver justice to us.
Interestingly, in the month of March 2015 Union Ministry of Home Affairs had dispatched a letter to the Chief Secretary of Jammu & Kashmir to ascertain the status of compensation.
The Union Home Ministery was informed by the State Government, “a compensation of Rs5 thousand has been given by the then Deputy Chief Minister of State and reportedly an amount of Rs2.86 lakhs was paid by MP (Rajya Sabha) Avinash Rai Khanna to the family of deceased from his own funds. However, no ex-gratia relief has been provided by the State Government. The letter also asks about financial assistance proposed to be provided to the family of Chamel Singh by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir”. The letter dated March 24, 2015 was signed by CPS Nonghulo (Director SR), Ministry of Home Affairs. Three days later on March 27 the State Govt submitted a written reply on the floor of the State Assembly clarifying there exists no provision to compensate families in such cases.