The sad story of Indian spy Ravinder Kaushik, who served as Major in Pak Army

New Delhi: The world of espionage is a world of oblivion, betrayal and torture. Despite the threat of certain death, spies have never shied away from risks in putting their life in danger for the sake of their motherland. India's intelligence agency is full of stories of such brave young men. Kashmir Singh, Sarabjit Singh and countless other unknown names have laid their lives for their nation. However, not many are aware of the name Ravinder Kaushik. Ravinder Kaushik was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on April 11, 1952. He was a famous theater artist. Kaushik had participated in a national level theatre festival held in Lucknow way back in 1975, where a few intelligence officers were impressed by his performance. The officials contacted Kaushik and asked him to go to Pakistan as an Indian spy. Ravinder Kaushik was recruited by RAW and was given extensive training in Delhi for two years. Sunnat was performed on him to show him as a Muslim. He was taught Urdu, given religious education and acquainted with the topography and other details about Pakistan. Being from Punjab-speaking Sri Ganganager, he was well versed in the language which is spoken in major part of Pakistan. Given the name Nabi Ahmed Shakir he was sent to Pakistan. He was successful in getting admission in Karachi University and completed his LLB. He joined Pakistan Army and became a commissioned officer and later was promoted to the rank of a Major. Kaushik fell in love with a Pakistani girl Amanat, whit whom he married and became father of a girl. From 1979 to 1983, while in military service, he passed on valuable information to RAW which was of great help to the Indian defence forces. He was given the title of 'Black Tiger' by India's then home minister S.B. Chavan. Some testify that the title was conferred by then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.He spent 26 years of his life away from his home and family in Pakistan in very unfavourable conditions. In 1985, he was caught and sentenced to death for spying, but the sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment. His cover was blown after Indian intelligence sent another agent Inyat Masiha, to get in touch with Black Tiger. But the agent was caught by Pakistan's intelligence agencies and revealed Ravinder Kaushik's true identity. Kaushik was then captured, tortured for two years at an interrogation centre in Sialkot. Ravinder was awarded death sentence in the year 1985. His sentence was later commuted to a life term by the Pakistan Supreme court. Kaushik was kept in various jails, including Sialkot, Kot Lakhpat and in Mianwali jail for 16 years, where he contracted Asthma and TB. The brave spy managed to secretly send letters to his family in India, from inside the Pakistan jail, which revealed his poor health condition and the trauma faced by him in Pakistani jails. In one of his letters he wrote, "Kya Bharat jaise bade desh ke liye kurbani dene waalon ko yahi milta hai?" (Is this the reward a person gets for sacrificing his life for India?) On 21 November 2001, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis and heart disease in New Central Jail Multan. He was buried behind that jail. Ravindra's family claimed that the story line of the famous Bollywood flick "Ek Tha Tiger" released in the year 2012 was based on the life of Ravindra & asked for the credit in the movie titles for Ravindra.