It is now two-and-a half months, since Indian farmer Chamel Singh, convicted under charges of espionage, was allegedly tortured to death by Pakistani authorities inside Kot lakhpat Central jail. Sadly, his widow and four sons, continue to wait for the helping hand from the Centre and State Government.
Barring a token ‘lip service’, the poor family has not got even an assurance of support by the political leadership engaged in the game of one-upmanship over Pakistan bashing for the ‘barbaric act’. In the absence of any ex-gratia, Kamlesh Devi, widow of Chamel Singh, is struggling to survive. Three of her four sons are working as daily wagers for the last four years to earn their livelihood in the absence of their father.
The apathetic attitude of the authorities has enraged Chamel Singh’s family. “How many times do we need to highlight the plight of our family since our father went missing under mysterious circumstances in 2008,” Deepak Singh, one of the four sons
of Chamel Singh, told The Pioneer. “We are growing tired of repeating appeals in front of the political leadership of the
State and the country,” Deepak Singh said. They have submitted a detailed memorandum to Jammu Divisional Commissioner, but the State Government has not responded to it till now.
Ironically, when State BJP MlAs raised the issue of awarding adequate, Deputy Chief Minister Tar Chand announced in the Assembly that the State Government would examine the issue and consider the demand.
Even the Central Government is guilty of maintaining muted silence on the demand for compensation for the distraught family as they lost their sole breadearner in Pakistani jail on charges of spying for India.
Deepak Singh informed that before his father went missing from his fields under mysterious circumstances on December 22, 2008, a few unidentified men used to frequent their house and remained closeted inside the room with his father. “Whenever we asked about these people our father silenced us,” Deepak said.
“We cannot say with authority whether they were intelligence sleuths, but now it raises a suspicion in our mind that our father was even dumped by those who once exploited him and used his services for their vested interest.” He added that after his father went missing, they never saw those people again.
Deepak’s elder brother Dara Singh started working as daily wage labourer in Mishriwallah. Younger brother Suresh Singh started working as vegetable vendor in the local market after leaving his studies and the youngest, Rakesh Singh is still studying. Deepak rued that none of the senior State Government functionary or Minister attended the cremation of Chamel Singh on March 14.
State BJP chief Jugal Kishore and Panthers party legislator were among those Jammu-based leaders who attended the cremation ceremony and paid tributes to Chamel Singh.The angry residents of his native village, Bhalwal Molu in Pargwal area of Akhnoor, had raised anti-Pakistan slogans.
Ironically, Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul had even refused to pass a resolution in the House condemning the brutal torture of Chamel in the Pakisanti jail. The second post-mortem conducted by the Board of Directors in the Government Medical College hospital in Jammu on March 14, 2013 had confirmed torture on the body of Chamel.
Interestingly, the preliminary post-mortem report published in the Pakistani media and here in Jammu & Kashmir both confirmed the fact that the Indian prisoner was brutally tortured to death by the jail authorities in lahore on January 15, 2013. But the Pakistani authorities have refused to handover the Autopsy report to the Indian Foreign office despite intervention of Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khursheed.