Former spies face ‘slow death’ after release

Over the past four days, India and Pakistan have traded punches over the death sentence handed out to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian citizen who Pakistan accuses of being a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), an allegation he, his family, and the Indian government have all denied.

Jadhav, a former Indian naval commander had been working out of Iran since 2003 and was accused of espionage in the Pakistani state of Balochistan in March 2013.

While Jadhav’s case is attracting national and international attention, many Indians who have served their country as spies have suffered imprisonment and torture in Pakistan before being sent back home, and struggle to get a hearing.

The Punjab border districts of Gurdaspur and Ferozepur are replete with examples of men who crossed the Indo-pakistan border for tidbits of intelligence for their handlers. Most of these men are captured by Pakistani security forces and end up languishing in jail for years. Because most are disavowed by their governments, they’re subject to extremely archaic forms of torture.

Many are impoverished men who are recruited as low-level informants for multiple Indian intelligence agencies including the RAW.

Gurdaspur’s Dadwan village is known for producing these informants, who unlike their highly trained counterparts are not valued.

“Even if you escape death and are sent back, in your country you die a slow death as nobody is there to own you,” said Kishori Lal, a former spy in a 2005 interview to a media outlet.

Some cases have seen the light of day. Sarabjit Singh, an alleged informant who was killed in a prison brawl in 2013 and Roop Lal Sahariya, an informant that spent 26 years in Pakistani jails, have received attention.

But largely, these men are sent back through unceremoni ous prison exchanges at the Wagah border. There is no cen tral database in India or Paki stan with details of who was exchanged.

India is no better at treating such prisoners. The methods o torture are similar and equally brutal. Although there is no data available on how prisoners are treated, according to National Records Crime Bureau, between 2010 and 2015 591 people died in police cus tody.

So though Indian govern ment and its press fights for the release of Kulbhushan Yadav, i should also spare thought for their men stranded in Pakistan jails.