Indian spy who was Zardari's jail mate wants to meet him

ejazr

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This story makes you wonder how many other unknown Indian spies who are doing their work for their country without recognition. Does RAW have any similar recognition program like the CIA does in the CIA Memorial Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?
Indian spy who was Zardari's jail mate wants to meet him - The Times of India
KOLKATA: Mehboob Elahi is happy that his old prison mate Asif Ali Zardari is coming to India but is crestfallen that he will not get to meet the Pakistani president during his short visit Sunday. Elahi, a former Indian spy, was Zardari's jail mate at the Karachi Central Jail for a few months between 1986-87.

Elahi had decided that if he gets to meet Zardari he would request the Pakistani president to release all the Indian prisoners of war in Pakistani jails.

Elahi had served two decades in several Pakistani prisons from 1977-1996 on the charge of spying for India. He was Zardari's prison mate along with several leaders of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the Karachi Central Jail in 1986-87.

"I had been serving in the same prison along with Zardari and Benazir Bhutto during the military rule in Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq. We used to meet Zardari on Sundays in the courtyard of the jail," Elahi told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Elahi, a seasoned spy of the late 60s and 70s, had twice crossed over to Pakistan - once via East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and once via the western border. He recollected how he had developed a good rapport with Zardari in prison.

"He (Zardari) used to talk about the political situation in Pakistan, and the misrule and suppression of Zia. He had a strong following inside the jail," he recalled.

According to Elahi, Zardari was "sympathetic" to the plight of Indian prisoners.

"Zardari was quite influential and he was sympathetic to Indian POWs. The Indian POWs used to wash the clothes of Pakistani prisoners and do menial chores for them. They would also do it for Zardari, but Zardari was sympathetic to them. He would speak to them, buy them soap and sweets," said Elahi.

Initially, Elahi spent nearly 10 years in Pakistan from 1968 to 1977 after spying in various government organisations, including the Pakistani army and police.

The 52-year-old spy, who still bears the scars of Pakistani torture all over his body, said during his stay in Pakistani jails he came across hundreds of Indian POWs and fishermen who are suffering in Pakistan for years.

"I have met hundreds of Indian prisoners there, most of them POWs. Many of them have either gone mad or have lost their memory due to inhuman torture. They can't even recollect their names."

He regretted that neither the Indian government nor the Indian Army has done enough to bring the "real heroes" back home.

Elahi had written to the Pakistani High Commission in India seeking an appointment with Zardari during his six-hour visit to India, but did not receive a reply.

"I didn't get a reply from Pakistan high commission. But the sad thing is that I had also written to the Indian president ( Pratibha Patil), but she too didn't reply. I am disheartened by this indifference of both the countries towards the POWs."

Since his release in 1996, Elahi has been a voracious campaigner for release of Indian POWs and prisoners. During the BJP-led NDA rule he sat on a demonstration in New Delhi and even threatened to commit suicide in front of parliament. The then defence and foreign minister Jaswant Singh had assured him that the Indian government was consistently taking up the issue with Pakistan.

"The Indian prisoners are tortured everyday, I was also tortured. In 1996 there were around 1,335 prisoners. Now the figure may have increased or decreased, but still there are several Indian POWs in Pakistan," he said.

Elahi recollected how officers close to Zia tried to lure him with money and promise of release in exchange for killing former Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was then languishing in Lahore jail after a coup by the country's army.

"I was offered a blank cheque and a promise of release provided I assassinate Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. But I refused to carry out the act."

Elahi is upset that in India "most Muslims are viewed with suspicion".

"Muslims are patriots. They should not been seen with an eye of suspicion. Muslims are ready to die for their motherland," said Elahi.

Zardari will have lunch with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, followed by a one-on-one meeting, after which he will visit the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer and fly back in the evening.
 

The Messiah

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I wonder how many raw agents are in pakistan ?
 

Godless-Kafir

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This is TRAGIC, when they hijacked the Indian airlines aircraft to Kandhar we released 35 hard core criminals including mullana mazood azar, we indians cant even do an effort to get our poor chaps released! I feel so horrible that we have no way to get them back. Poor chaps.

These where the best of our citizens, best of our men and the bravest of us all! :(
 

ejazr

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The shocking thing is this same spy has been demanding compensation to these off the radar spies who put their lives at risk at a greater level than official RAW spies who at least have diplomatic cover since 2001. NDA has gone, UPA I has gone and now UPA II and still the plight of these spies has not be addressed and neither there efforts recognized.


Former Spy Appeals to Indian Premier for Justice

CALCUTTA, 22 December 2004 — An Indian Muslim covicted on spying charges and jailed in Pakistan for 22 years has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clear his dues and rehabilitate him.

Two years ago, Mehboob Elahi's threat to swallow cyanide or shoot himself outside Parliament had turned the spotlight on spies who are regularly sent to Pakistan by Indian intelligence organizations and then forgotten.

But security agencies physically prevented Mehboob from killing himself outside Parliament or then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's residence in New Delhi. Now he has sent an SOS to Manmohan.

Mehboob, who belongs to Calcutta, is also demanding justice for dozens of other low-ranking spies who have returned after serving their sentences in Pakistan and has urged New Delhi to expedite through diplomatic channels the release and repatriation of hundreds of Indian intelligence agents and prisoners of war still languishing in Pakistani jails.

By all accounts, unlike secret service officers who operate from embassies under diplomatic cover, spies such as Mehboob are not government employees and yet undertake dangerous missions abroad at grave personal risk to earn money.

"They are recruited informally by premier intelligence organizations like the army's directorate of military intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing or Special Services Bureau and sent to neighboring countries, particularly nuclear rival Pakistan, as field agents to collect defense-related information", says former spy Mohan Lal Bhaskar, who wrote Under the Shadow of Bayonets after he was repatriated from Pakistan.

Inside Pakistan, they are generally assigned to track movement of troops and armaments such as field guns, anti-aircraft guns and other pieces of artillery.

Most of them, security sources say, can easily tell the difference between 110mm and 155mm field guns. Training includes lessons in map-reading and photography.

But as there is nothing in writing, it is easy for their handlers to promptly disown them if they are caught.

Intelligence agencies invariably wash their hands of a spy once he is arrested and tried. They also stonewall any attempt by his family to claim payments.

The very men who lured them into the cloak-and-dagger shadowy world often deny even those spies who return after serving their jail sentence their dues and compensation.

Those in the know say Mehboob is neither the first nor the last victim of India's callous and uncaring intelligence establishment.

"I gave the best years of my life to the country. But I have got nothing in return,' said Mehboob, who was apparently sent to Pakistan as an agent of the directorate of military intelligence in the early 1970s. He turned out to be an outstanding agent. He not only acquired a new identity abroad with the help of his relatives in Karachi but even managed to join the Pakistan Army.

His luck ran out in 1977 when he was betrayed by another Indian spy who had been won over by the Pakistanis. He was tortured, convicted of spying activities under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act and jailed.

Thanks to a Pakistan Human Rights Commission initiative, he was released from prison in 1999 and sent home to his parents, five brothers and four sisters. Since then, countless petitions for settling his dues and payment of compensation have been ignored by authorities in India. Not only are his dues still unpaid but all his efforts to get a pension have proved equally futile.

His chest and back are filled with the scars of torture. Newspapers have highlighted his physical condition but it has not stirred the government's conscience. "I have been moved from one hell to another. That's all," said Mehboob, who has spent the past three years running from pillar to post.

"Let alone make arrangements for my rehabilitation, government officials and politicians did not offer even a glass of water when I knocked at their doors for justice."

By Mehboob's estimate, there are 600 Indian spies and prisoners of war languishing in jails across Pakistan. He attributes the figure to Pakistan human rights officials he spoke to. And an equal number of Pakistanis are reportedly held indefinitely in prisons across India.
 

parijataka

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Shame on our country. These men are risking their all for country and this is the treatement meted out.
 

devgupt

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These guys are our unsung heroes. The least we can do is to provide monetary compensation.What is sad that even this is not done.
 

The Messiah

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Blood sucking politicians and bureaucrats should be hung upside down and beaten with lathis :frusty:

soldiers, patriots, spies etc all working for the country are left to fend for themselves afterwards.
 

Godless-Kafir

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Blood sucking politicians and bureaucrats should be hung upside down and beaten with lathis :frusty:

soldiers, patriots, spies etc all working for the country are left to fend for themselves afterwards.
Irony isnt it? Theifs are enjoying the nations wealth and our best soldiers are wroughting in porki jail!
 

The Messiah

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Irony isnt it? Theifs are enjoying the nations wealth and our best soldiers are wroughting in porki jail!
One could even understand there excuse about those in paki jails but what are these bastards doing for those who are in India ? They have no excuses.

Even if they set aside 1% out of all the thousands of crores scams that happen then also it will be enough to atleast put food into there mouths and a shed over there heads and no tension of medical bills.
 

Ray

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Let the two jailbirds meet.

It is after all a private visit and he should renew old friendships!
 

devgupt

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Sometimes I wonder why do bureaucrats are obstinate in releasing due money for people who have made sacrifices for the defense of motherland.
Being corrupt is one thing, being heartless is another.
 

aerokan

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What a disgrace on part of the govt!! Where are the mulayam's, laloo's and mamata's hiding? They are willing to give money and freebies to those imams. But not even voice a pension to those muslims or other spies who lived severe hardship for the motherland. Shame on us!! :tsk:
 

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