Editorial
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| | Fate of small time spies | | Indian, Pak agencies must do away with the barbarian practices | | The controversy over clemency to Indian prisoner Surjeet Singh by Pakistan refuses to die down. After the clumsy faux pas made by a Pakistani minister, the man in question has now threatened to move the court if the army refuses to accept that he was indeed working as a spy for the force. This may not be the first time that defence force would be dragged to the court by its former spies simply for the recognition and due benefits that the latter are denied. Several such cases have surfaced in the past in Jammu and Kashmir alone after spies, sent across the borders, have served terms in Pakistan prisons and returned only to be disowned by the army, para military forces of police without even getting paid for the jobs they do. Unlike popular fiction and the reel world, the job of a real life spy does not appear to be as exciting, adventurous and glamorous as it is made out to be. Most spies are not regular staffers of the concerned agencies. They are mostly men, often with an economically weaker background co-opted to do the job by offering allurements and often invoking the paradigm of ‘national interest’. The trend is not believed to be any different on the other side of the borders and stories are galore of small time spies, mostly from the border areas, sent on to and fro spying missions across the borders by the two respective agencies. So messy is the dark world of spying that quite a few end up becoming double agents and some get caught on the wrong side of the border and languish in jails for endless periods. In either case, the concerned agencies are known to disown their spies in order to shrug any responsibility of their well being and their upkeep. Once caught on the wrong side of the border, they are literally of no use to the army that initially hired them and sent them on a mission involving several risks. After their release, while these spies are completely disowned, during their incarceration, their dependent families live in abject penury.
At a time, when atmosphere is again building up for meaningful talks between India and Pakistan, it is time to also bring on table this undesirable and demeaning policy of co-opting civilians and using them as informers and spies. It is not known how much such a policy enhances the strategic security of either of the country. But it certainly goes against the basic ethics and principles of humanity and by that virtue it would serve little purpose even if some hawks in uniform would like to boast of some marginal advantage that they may get once in a while. Humanitarian laws are unequivocally clear in their rejection of risking civilian lives in any way at the altar of wars or hostility. The practice, therefore, needs to be dispensed with lock, stock and barrel; and this can happen only with mutual consent of the two countries, conditioned for years by the unending trend of tit for tat. It could easily be made a component of the negotiations over exchange of prisoners and setting up a more humane mechanism with proper consular access to the prisoners, mostly innocent inadvertent crossers, caught in the wrong territory. While the issue of people who accidentally cross the unnatural borders merits a priority, one cannot push the issue of small time spies, who risk their lives for petty benefits, completely into the backburner. Though it may take some time for both the countries to wind up their ugly espionage networks, especially those involving co-opted civilians, it is time that the issue is atleast brought to the fore for some meaningful discussions. Action in one or two odd cases would not serve the purpose. |
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