Ravinder Kaushik was a former RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent, who after his training in India lived most of his life (26 years) in Pakistan and became a Major in Pakistan army. Born and brought up in Sriganganagar, a border town in Rajasthan, Kaushik grew up to be a charismatic college student, with above-average intelligence and looks. He was theatrically inclined, and staged mono-acting skits in college. It was probably his mono-act in college in which he played an Indian army officer who refused to divulge information to China that caught the attention of intelligence officers.
He was contacted and offered a job for being an undercover agent of India in Pakistan. He was recruited by RAW and was given extensive training in Delhi for two years. At the age of 23, Soon after completing his Bachelors in Commerce, Kaushik left for Delhi, entering a world of intrigue and danger. He moved from there to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, ending up in Pakistan, writing letters home every once in a while to let his family know of his whereabouts.
In Pakistan, he converted to Islam, changed his name, married a local girl Amanat, graduated from a law college and finally, became the ultimate insider by entering the Pakistani army. From 1979 to 1983, while in military service, he passed valuable information to RAW, which was of great help to the Indian defence forces. He was given the title of ‘Black Tiger’.
But just when he had infiltrated the inner fortress, his career came to an abrupt halt. In 1983, when he was 29, an Indian agent called Inayat Masiha, caught by Pakistan as he was crossing the border, blew Kaushik’s cover. Masiha arranged to meet with Kaushik in a park, where Pakistan’s intelligence agencies arrested him on charges of espionage and threw him into a Multan jail. He remained there for 18 years.
Just three days before his death, he wrote a bitter letter home: “Had I been an American, I would have been out of this jail in three days.”
The only thing the government did after he died was to send his parents some money every month as pension. The family first got Rs. 500 a month, and after a few years, they began receiving Rs. 2,000 a month — until 2006, when his mother Amladevi died.
Bollywood movie Ek tha Tiger was loosely based on his story but honestly, no actor deserves to play Ravinder Kaushik.
This one for Ravinder Kaushik. As usual, disgusted by Indian Government.
