A tale of two Punjabi friends

This is a true story of a true friendship of Punjab.Gurmit Chand Bhardwaj and Kashmir Singh became childhood friends in their remote village Nangal Khiladian in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab in early 1950s. The game of football deepened their friendship but they had to go different ways after their school studies. Kashmir Singh first joined the Indian army and then came back to join Punjab police and then disappeared in 1973. Several years later, it was learnt that he was in Pakistan awaiting the execution of his death sentence awarded allegedly for his being an Indian spy.     
Gurmit Bhardwaj did his UPSC competition and was selected in the Indian Information Service in the year 1969.Working in different departments of the ministry of Information and Broadcasting at Delhi and Shimla at senior level posts, he retired in 2006 as Director of News in All India Radio Chandigarh. Whenever he visited his village, he made it a point to call on Paramjit Kaur, the wife of his disappeared friend Kashmir Singh. She would implore him to do something for the release of her husband, now that Gurmit was a senior officer. 
Gurmit wrote several letters to the Foreign Affairs ministry but nothing seemed to move for years.And then, Gurmit was deputed to cover visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Pakistan in 2004 for SAARC Summit. He was covering the press conference of Pakistan President, General Parvez Musharraf when he saw an opportunity for his friend Kashmir Singh. He asked the General as to why Pakistan was not releasing the Indian prisoners who had completed the tenure of their imprisonment. The General denied any such prisoners but Gurmit was ready with details on a piece of paper. The slip, along with an application from Kashmir Singh's wife Paramjit Kaur,  was passed on to the Foreign Minister Kasuri who promised to look into the matter.
Meanwhile Gurmit could befriend another Pakistan Federal minister Ansar Burney and asked him to pursue the case. Burney was known for his keen interest in human rights cases.Gurmit retired in 2006 but continued efforts to help his friend Kashmir Singh come out of Pakistan. And Kashmir Singh who had served about 35 years in nine jails of Pakistan, was released in 2008. It was a new life for Kashmir Singh and a great satisfaction for his close friend Gurmit Chand Bhardwaj. Punjab government and some individuals provided some financial help to Kashmir Singh.The then Punjab Chief Minister PS Badal sanctioned a monthly pension of Rs.10000. Kashmir Singh's wife was given a residential plot at Mahalpur town and his son was given a clerical job in the education department.
Kashmir Singh, now over 80 years of age, lives in his ancestral village Nangal Khiladian. Gurmit has settled down at Chandigarh but frequently visits his village. He has been organising junior and senior level football tournaments now for the last 41 years. He has built a football stadium in the village with financial help from his NRI friends from the village.Kashmir Singh and Gurmit Bhardwaj have  rediscovered their football passion in young players. Their childhood friendship that saw really testing times, now thrives in their passion of the sport of football.

(Writer is a freelance journalist based at Hisar)