SOS to Kalam: Bring back my son

It was an impassioned plea by a mother. A mother who’d suffered the humiliation of having her soldier son being declared a traitor. A w...

It was an impassioned plea by a mother. A mother who’d suffered the humiliation of having her soldier son being declared a traitor. A wife, whose husband died broken-hearted after trying in vain to clear his son’s name.

Rifleman Jagsir Singh’s mother, Choto Kaur, was at her eloquent best today as she urged President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam through the media to bring back her son from the Haldiala Central Jail in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

‘‘We used to be a complete family but then everything changed… Five years is a long time. How long can one live on hope?’’ she sighed, talking about the hope that flickered in her house in May when Army officers came and assured her that Jagsir would be back in 10-15 days. ‘‘Two months have passed and we are still in the dark. What do I tell this child (pointing at Jagsir’s four-and-a-half-year-old daughter Kuldip) who asks me every day about her father,’’ she said.

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Appealing to the President, she said: ‘‘This is an appeal of a widow and a mother whose son is a prisoner of war in Pakistan for the last five years. I urge the President, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to expedite the process of bringing back my son to the country and family.’’

Recounting the misery of the last five years, she said: ‘‘After Jagsir was declared a deserter in 1999, we were subjected to mental torture and harassment at the hands of the Punjab Police. They used to come to our house every other day and threaten to beat up my husband saying that he knew where Jagsir was. Unable to bear this torment, he passed away, leaving us penniless.’’

Jagsir’s maternal uncle Kulwant Singh said that though the Army had released a lumpsum , it was yet to remit Jagsir’s pay. ‘‘We are not interested in money though,’’ he was quick to add. ‘‘All we want is his release.’’

Sitting beside the family members, local MLA Manpreet Badal said he would seek an audience with Kalam.