Monday, March 3, 2008 (New Delhi)



She has waited for 35 years, that's more than half her age, hoping to meet her husband.That wait is now going to be over and Kashmir Singh will finally be a free man. The event comes as a miracle at least for his family.Kashmir Singh was arrested in Pakistan in 1972 on charges of spying and sentenced to death by an Army court.Ever since the former Indian jawan has been in jail, he hasn't been allowed to meet anyone.His family didn't know where he was till they got a letter written by him five years after he disappeared.They tried hard to get him back but failed to do so.''Only we know how we survived through this time. I worked as a labourer to raise my children,'' said Paramjit Kaur, Kashmir Singh's wife.The caretaker Human Rights Minister of Pakistan ran into Kashmir Singh during a recent visit to Lahore jail. He took up the case with President Pervez Musharraf, who pardoned Kashmir Singh.This was just the news his three children and friends were waiting for.''We are very happy, we have waited for him for so long,'' said Shispal Singh, Kashmir Singh's son.To make sure no more time is lost Kashmir Singh's family will receive him at the Wagah border.But his mother, who used to weep and pray for her son's release, won't be there, as she died in December last year.