DEAR MR PRIME MINISTER...

We were standing on the platform of the Mysore railway station – my parents and I. Our neigbour’s son, Muralidharan, had got selected as a Pilot in the Indian Air Force and was leaving for Secunderabad for his training. And we had gone to the station to see him off. I still vividly remember the scene. Murali leaning out of his compartment, all smiles, waving to us as the train chugged out... It was the year 1964, and I was hardly 6 years old. Yet the scene remains firmly etched in my memory.

A couple of years later, we relocated to Chennai (then Madras). And we lost touch with Murali’s parents. In 1971 came the Indo-Pakistan war, which India won. The war ended in the birth of Bangladesh. But not before it had claimed many a brave Indian life. We heard that Murali had died in the war. During a sortie, his plane had been hit while in Pakistan territory. “I have taken a hit... I am going down...”, were reportedly his last words to Air Base Control. One of his fellow pilots in the same sortie returned to inform that he had seen Murali baling out before his plane exploded.

During the post war assessment, the wreckage of Murali’s fighter plane had been identified. His helmet, with his name on it, had been recovered. But there was no sign of his body – charred or otherwise. The parents believed that he could be alive in Pakistan territory. They petitioned the IAF authorities, who after sending them around in circles, finally directed them to the corridors of political power. They trudged through South Block, North Block, Defence Ministry, Parliament House.... They found that there were several other parents like them. They walked. And trudged. And trudged... Until they died!

Even in death, they believed that Murali was alive.

The case of the missing Indian soldiers has been whispered about, even written about. It has been raised several times in Parliament. But the successive governments in power in Delhi did precious little about it.

Now the Government has changed. Narendra Modi’s BJP regime is in place. Modi has the reputation of being a man with a mission. And hence this blog on behalf of the several Indian soldiers who could still be prisoners in Pakistan... On behalf of the thousands of Indian soldiers who still silently shed tears for their missing brothers... On behalf of the families of the missing soldiers whose tears have run dry after four decades of crying...

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

Dear Mr Prime Minister,

I have been seeing your photographs in various newspapers spending quality time with our jawans in the border areas of our country, encouraging them and inspiring them to greater heights of glory. I also understand that you are working out a complete overhaul of the wage structure in the defence forces. No hike would be too high for the brave guardians of our nation’s frontiers. I must complement you for your efforts. However, I am constrained to bring to your notice a black spot on the flanks of the Defence Ministry, which, unless erased, will retard the commitment of our soldiers, undermine their confidence and deter them in their valiant duty of defending our frontiers. Your efforts in this regard will also restore the pride of the armed forces, making it a favoured choice of young and competent job-seekers.

Some time back I had occasion to read a book titled INDIAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN PAKISTAN. This is a book which chronicles the heart-rending stories of the families of Indian prisoners of war (POWs) and the apathy of the Indian Government in getting them freed from the clutches of the Pakistani authorities. It highlights the flaws in the system leading to the traumatisation of many families which had sent their sons, husbands and fathers to serve the nation only to find them serving unspecified periods in abominable jails under a hostile government.

Let me put things in perspective.

Following the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, 3,703 soldiers from West Pakistan and 93,007 from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) were imprisoned by India. In addition, the Indian Army occupied 9,047 sq kms of Pakistan territory in Punjab, including 90 villages. This was one of the largest surrenders in history since World War II. For its part, Pakistan took 2,307 Indian soldiers as POWs. The equations clearly showed that India was the victor and Pakistan the vanquished. It was as a result of this Indian victory that Bangladesh was born !

At the end of a war, every man has to be accounted for, alive or dead. The list of all those who are reported missing, believed dead or taken prisoners are compiled and exchanged between the nations concerned. One list is also handed over to the International Red Cross. Dead bodies have to be identified with the help of ID discs on their clothes or by other soldiers. No soldier is ever allowed to be abandoned in a hostile land. In case any dead soldiers are recovered by enemy forces, convention has it that their remains and/or their ID discs and personal belongings like wrist watches are repatriated. These help the bereaved families in identification. No country ever returns the enemy’s prisoners unless their own are fully accounted for. Conventionally, the victors get their imprisoned soldiers repatriated first before returning the opponent’s POWs.

However, after the 1971 war, all these conventions were given a go by. Following the Shimla Accord of June 28-July 3, 1972 between Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto India acceded to releasing the POWs held by us as a gesture of reconciliation and goodwill. India vacated Pakistani territory by August 7, 1972. The POWs of Pakistan were released on December 1, 1972. At that time, two lists of Indian POWs in Pakistan had been handed over to India. A third list was under preparation. Following the repatriation of the Pakistani POWs, the third list of Indian POWs never came. Of the names of Indian POWs reported to be in Pakistan’s custody, which was announced on Pakistan Radio on August 8, 9, 10 and 11, 1972, at least 55 were missing from the two lists that were submitted to India. When the Indian POWs were finally repatriated, only those names that figured in the lists returned. The whereabouts of the others was not known.

The Indian Government under Mrs Indira Gandhi was responsible for the unpardonable crime of allowing some of our brave soldiers to languish in the hands of a hostile enemy. The grieving families of these soldiers were forced to roam the corridors of power in New Delhi, in vain. Though India won the war, Mrs Gandhi lost out to Zulfiqar Bhutto at the negotiating table !

There are various evidences which confirmed the presence of Indian POWs in Pakistan, long after the war :

1.      The Internationally respected Time magazine illustrated its cover story on the “Bloody Birth of Bangladesh” with, amongst other pictures, a photograph of an Indian jawan behind bars in a Pakistan prison. The prisoner in the photograph was identified as Major A K Ghosh of the Indian army. However, when the exchange of POWs took place, there was no Major Ghosh.

2.      The Pakistan Radio broadcasts of August 8,9,10 and 11, 1972, quoted above.

3.      The book authored by Victoria Schoffield, the BBC’s correspondent in Pakistan titled BHUTTO – TRIAL AND EXECUTION, in which she describes the tortures that the deposed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was subjected to by the military junta that ousted him. She says : “At Kot Lakhpat (prison), Bhutto was subjected to a peculiar kind of harassment. His cell, separated from a barrack area by a 10-feet high wall, did not prevent him from hearing horrific shrieks and screams at night from the other side of the wall. One of Bhutto’s lawyers made enquiries amongst the jail staff and ascertained that they were in fact Indian Prisoners of War who had been rendered delinquent and mental during the course of the 1971 war…” This was in 1978-79, seven years after the war. The book quotes Bhutto of saying that there were 50-odd Indian POWs lodged in the ward.

4.      During the SAARC summit in 1989, Zulfiqar’s daughter Benazir Bhutto, who had by then become Prime Minister of Pakistan, informed her Indian counterpart Rajiv Gandhi, who had succeeded his mother Indira, that 43 Indian POWs were still there in Pakistan.

5.      In December, 2005, Jabid Rashid, the Editor of the Daily Jang, Pakistan’s leading newspaper, while on a visit to India, confirmed the presence of several Indian POWs in Pakistan.

Mr Prime Minister, diplomatic bridges are being buit with Pakistan. “Confidence-building measures” are being put in place. Diplomats and political leaders from the two countries are exchanging visits. Handshakes are being exchanged. Photo-ops are taking place involving dignitaries of the two countries. And efforts are under way to simplify visa procedures between the two countries. This is the time to also take up the issue of the Indian POWs, who could still be languishing in the Pakistani jails. This matter has been hanging for 42 long years. Many of the POWs may have died. But it is still not too late. Even if you can get back the surviving few, it would be a great service to the grieving families. It would be a great morale boost to the armed services. This one deed would be more reassuring to our brave soldiers than all the other confidence building measures put together.

On behalf of the grieving families who have been running from pillar to post for some news about their brave sons, on behalf of the lakhs of soldiers serving the Indian armed forces and on behalf of the hapless POWs, who have survived this 42 years ordeal, I appeal to you to address this issue as a priority. Posterity will remember you as the Prime Minister who restored the pride and confidence of the personnel of India’s armed forces in themselves.

With kind regards,

K P Sunil

List of missing Indian soldiers tabled in the Lok Sabha in 1979 by Samarendra Kundu, Minister of State of External Affairs, in reply to unstarred question 6803 raised by Amarsingh Pathawa

Indian Army

1. Major SPS Waraich IC-12712 15 Punjab

2. Major Kanwaljit Singh Sandhu IC-14590 15 Punjab

3. 2/Lt Sudhir Mohan Sabharwal SS-23957 87 Lt Regiment

4. Capt Ravinder Kaura SS-20095 39 Med Regiment

5. Capt Giri Raj Singh IC-23283 5 Assam

6. Capt Om Prakash Dalal SS-22536 Grenadiers

7. Maj AK Ghosh IC-18790 15 Rajput

8. Maj AK Suri SS-19807 5 Assam

9. Capt Kalyan Singh Rathod IC-28148 5 Assam

10. Major Jaskiran Singh Malik IC-14457 8 Raj. Rifles

11. Major SC Guleri IC-20230 9 Jat

12. Lt Vijay Kumar Azad IC-58589 1/9 G R

13. Capt Kamal Bakshi IC-19294 5 Sikh

14. 2/ Lt Paras Ram Sharma SS-22490 5/8 G R

15. Capt Vashisht Nath

16. L/Hv. Krishna Lal Sharma 13719585 1 JAK RIF

17. Subedar Assa Singh JC-41339 5 Sikh

18. Subedar Kalidas JC-59 8 JAKLI

19. L/Nk Jagdish Raj 9208735 Mahar Regiment

20. L/Nk Hazoora Singh 682211303

21. Gunner Sujan Singh 1146819 14 Fd Regiment

22. Sepoy Daler Singh 2461830 15 Punjab

23. Gnr Pal Singh 1239603 181 Lt Regiment

24. Sepoy Jagir Singh 2459087 16 Punjab

25. Gnr Madan Mohan 1157419 94 Mountain Regiment

26. Gnr Gyan Chand Gnr Shyam Singh

27. L/Nk Balbir Singh S B S Chauhan

28. Capt DS jamwal 81 Field Regiment

29. Capt Washisht Nath Attock

Indian Air Force

30. Sq Ldr Mohinder Kumar Jain 5327-F(P) 27 Sqn

31. Flt Lt Sudhir Kumar Goswami 8956-F(P) 5 Sqn

32. Flying Officer Sudhir Tyagi 10871-F(P) 27 Sqn

33. Flt Lt Vijay Vasant Tambay 7662 –F(P) 32 Sqn

34. Flt Lt Nagaswami Shanker 9773-F(P) 32 Sqn

35. Flt Lt Ram Metharam Advani 7812-F(P) JBCU

36. Flt Lt Manohar Purohit 10249(N) 5 Sqn

37. Flt Lt Tanmaya Singh Dandoss 8160-F(P) 26 Sqn

38. Wg Cdr Hersern Singh Gill 4657-F(P) 47 Sqn

39. Flt Lt Babul Guha 5105-F(P)

40. Flt Lt Suresh Chander Sandal 8659-F(P) 35 Sqn

41. Sqn. Ldr. Jal Manikshaw Mistry 5006-F(P)

42. Flt Lt Harvinder Singh 9441-F(P) 222 Sqn

43. Sqn Ldr Jatinder Das Kumar 4896-F(P) 3 Sqn

44. Flt Lt LM Sassoon 7419-F(P) JBCU

45. Flt Lt Kushalpal Singh Nanda 7819-F(N) 35 Sqn

46. Flg Offr. Krishan L Malkani 10576-F(P) 27 Sqn

47. Flt Lt Ashok Balwant Dhavale 9030-F(P) 1 Sqn

48. Flt Lt Shrikant C Mahajan 10239-F(P) 5 Sqn

49. Flt Lt Gurdev Singh Rai 9015-F(P) 27 Sqn

50. Flt Lt Ramesh G Kadam 8404-F(P) TACDE

51. Flg Offr. KP Murlidharan 10575-F(P) 20 Sqn

52. Naval Pilot Lt. Cdr Ashok Roy

53. Sqn Ldr Devaprasad Chatterjee

54. Plt Offr Tejinder Singh Sethi