If you’ve not seen Raazi, you can go watch it on Prime. In fact, you should, right now. If you have, you’re aware of the courage that Sehmat Khan (played by Alia Bhatt) portrayed an Indian spy while on her mission. What we’re unaware of, are the stories of so many other Indian spies who risked their lives for their nation, and some who even lost them. So here are some stories of Brilliance, courage, and sheer genius.
- Sehmat Khan–
While we’re already at it, Sehmat Khan. If it weren’t Raazi for the book or the movie, we would never know Sehmat’s story. She passed important information to India even though it was not part of her job. She informed the navy about Pakistan’s plan to attack INS Vikrant, helping India avoid the attack. Who said women were too physically/emotionally weak to handle high-pressure situations?
- Kashmir Singh-
The story of Kashmir Singh was not one of victory or happy endings. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of. He entered Pakistan on an espionage mission, and was soon after caught. He was then put behind bars for 35 years. He spent 17 out of those 35 years chained to a post in a cell. Without sunlight. In isolation. Like any person would, he lost his sanity under this extreme torture, and was pardoned in 2008 on humanitarian grounds.
- Ravindra Kaushik-
Kaushik was a deep-cover agent. He was a theatre actor and was picked out, after one of his performances for a mission to go to Pakistan. He got circumcised, changed his name, learned about the Pakistani terrain; and when all of that was done, his identity as an Indian was wiped. He enrolled in a law Raazi university in Pakistan, after which, he joined the Pakistani army. He was then promoted to the position of a major. He played a vital part in passing information to India until his cover was blown by another agent sent to meet with him. He was imprisoned and tortured for 2 years before being awarded a death sentence.
- Saraswathy Rajamani-
At the age of 16, Saraswathy joined the Jhansi Ki Rani Regimen in the Indian National Army. She, along with her colleagues, dressed as a man to infiltrate the British army. The girls were instructed to shoot themselves if their cover was ever blown. Once, her friend was caught and to rescue her, Rajamani went undercover and rescued her, and in the process got shot. Her story of resilience went down in History and she was a source of inspiration for everybody.
- Rabinder Singh-
Now this is an interesting story if I’ve ever heard one. Rabinder was a joint secretary in RAW. A common protocol in intelligence agencies is only giving out information on a Need-To-Know basis. Singh was asking too many questions for his own good, and so RAW put tails on him for surveillance. He didn’t have a shadow of doubt until he found himself unable to leave the country. About a month later, he vanished. He went off the grid. Nobody knew where he went. There were a lot of guesses about his probable location but no reports were made of his arrest.
These are only the stories of some heroes, and these too are fairly popular. So many men and women never came back from the missions they were sent on. So many, whose whereabouts are unknown. Many came back but the agencies that sent them refused to recognize them and to this day, neither them, nor their families have been compensated. This article is a Raazi shoutout for those unsung heroes of our nation. @mainstreambollywooddirectors please make more movies about heroes like this (Without distorting the story for views). Thanks.
Lavanya Joshi
(Student, Grade XII, Manav Rachna International School) is an aspiring content writer and poet. She is a published author and has performed in various spoken word/poetry forums She has a quirky sense of humor and uses it sarcastically to drive home a point. She is a staunch feminist and takes a keen interest in human behavior and psychology.
