Govt apathetic towards my rehabilitation: Surjeet

Surjeet Singh, who recently walked to freedom after spending 31 years in a Pakistani jail, today accused the Centre and the Punjab government of being apathetic towards the issue of his rehabilitation.

"The Centre's approach towards me is apathetic. The Centre and the Army are trying to disown me after my return to India " he said. Talking to reporters here, Surjeet alleged neither the Central government nor the Army took care of his family when he was languishing in the Pakistani prison. Claiming he went to Pakistan as many as 85 times to bring information for the Indian Army, he said he had put 30 years of his life at stake for sake of the country.

Soon after his release, 69-year-old Surjeet had said he had gone to Pakistan for espionage, a claim dismissed by the Central government as "completely wrong". "We do not accept this. It is completely wrong. We do not do this kind of thing (spying on other countries). Neither we do spying, nor we send spies," Union home secretary Raj Kumar Singh had said in a statement.