April 11, 1952 A Legend of a Spy was born.Remembering the former Indian Raw agent Ravindra kaushik, also known as black tiger who served as a major in Pakistani army.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
Kaushik is regarded as India’s best spy to ever penetrate the ranks of the Pakistan army. Kaushik loved theatre and performing characters as a teenager and that’s how RAW spotted him.
It is said that Kaushik had learned Urdu, acquainted himself with Muslim religious texts and the terrain of Pakistan during his training. A RAW double agent who went to Pakistan.A Master of Espionage. Elevated to rank of Major in Pak Army. Gave up his life for the Nation & was given the title Black Tiger. And he was just 22 when he went across.
The Legend Ravindra Kaushik RAW agent who spent almost 8 years (1975 – 83) in Pakistan and joined Pakistan Army to destroy them. The motivation he had was just ‘India and her glory’.
Kaushik displayed his talent at the national level dramatic meet in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, which was witnessed by officials from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency.
He was contacted and offered a job of being an undercover Indian agent in Pakistan. Kaushik was given extensive training in Delhi for two years. He underwent circumcision so he could pass as a Muslim. He was taught Urdu, given Islamic religious education and acquainted with the topography and other details about Pakistan.
Being from Sri Ganganagar, a city near Rajasthan’s border with Punjab, he was well versed in Punjabi, which is widely understood in Punjab, Pakistan. In 1975, at the age of 23, Kaushik was sent to Pakistan on a special mission.
Kaushik was given the name “Nabi Ahmed Shakir” and entered Pakistan in 1975. He was successful in getting admission in Karachi University and completed his LLB. He joined Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer and eventually promoted to the rank of a major. He soon married a local girl named Amanat, the daughter of a tailor in one of the army units, and fathered a boy who died in 2012–2013.
From 1979 to 1983, while working as an officer, 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. Chapman.
In September 1983, Indian intelligence agencies sent a low-level operative, Inyat Masih, to get in touch with Kaushik. However, Masih was caught by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and revealed Kaushik’s true identity.
Kaushik was then captured, tortured for two years at an interrogation center in Sialkot. He was given the death sentence in 1985. His sentence was later commuted to a life term by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was kept in various jails in various cities, including Sialkot, Kot Lakhpat and in Mianwali jail for 16 years.
He managed to secretly send letters to his family in India, 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 what people who sacrifice their lives for a big country like India get?)
In November 2001, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis and heart disease in Central Jail Mianwali in Punjab, Pakistan.
According to Ravindra’s family, Indian government refused to recognise him and made no effort to help him.
Ravindra’s family claimed that the storyline of the famous Bollywood flick “Ek Tha Tiger” released in the year 2012 was based on the life of Ravindra and asked for the credit in the movie titles for Ravindra.
