Pakistan to speed up release of Indian POWs

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‘Pakistan to speed up release of Indian POWs’​

By Nadia Usman

LAHORE: The Pakistani authorities would take all possible measures for the release of Indian prisoners of war (POW), if any one is still in Pakistani prisons, Caretaker Federal Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney said on Sunday.

In 2005 the international and Pakistani media reported that there had 54 POWs in Pakistan. Similarly in 2004 Pakistani media reported about the bodies of two Indian nationals (a Hindu and a Muslim) in Lahore. The bodies were decomposed in the city morgue and later, officials packed them in a sack and sealed. Officials concerned sent several reminders to the Indian authorities, but they refused to accept the bodies.

Reports said about 54 families of missing Indian defence personnel were waiting to meet their loved ones, who had been languishing in Pakistani prisons for the past 36 years as POWs.

According to the Missing Defence Personnel Relatives Association (MDPRA) official, after the 1971 war, 2,238 Indian soldiers went missing. After the Simla Agreement, India returned about 93,000 Pakistani POWs. On the other hand, he had said, Pakistan had returned only 617 Indian POWs.

MK Paul, the vice president of MDPRA, had filed a petition for their release with the International Red Cross in Geneva and with Human Rights Watch in New York.

In September 1996, the then Minister for External Affairs IK Gujral had said 54 missing Indian defence personnel were believed to be in Pakistan. Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Sainik Samachar in September 2004, “It is estimated that 17 army officers, two junior commissioned officers and 19 other rank officers (ORs) are currently in Pakistani jails.”

According to published reports Indian missing POWs are:

Indian Air Force POWs: Wing Commander HS Gill, Squadron Leader Devaprashad Chatterjee, Squadron Leader Mohinder Kumar Jain, Squadron Leader Jal Maniksha Mistry, Squadron Leader Jatinder Das Kumar, Flight Lieutenant Tanmaya Singh Dandass, Flight Lieutenant Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam, Flight Lieutenant Babul Guha, Flight Lieutenant Gurdev Singh Rai, Flight Lieutenant Ashok Balwani Dhavale, Flight Lieutenant Srikant Chandrakant Mahajan, Flight Lieutenant Sudhir Kumar Goswami, Flight Lieutenant Harvinder Singh, Flight Lieutenant Vijay Vasant Tambay, Flight Lieutenant lyoo Moses Sasoon, Flight Lieutenant Ram Metharam Advani, Flight Lieutenant Nagaswami Shankar, Flight Lieutenant Suresh Chandra Sandal, Flight Lieutenant Kushalpal Singh Nanda, Flight Lieutenant Manohar Purohit, Flight Officer Tyagi, Flight Officer Kishan Lakhimal Malkani, Flight Officer Kottiezath Puthiyavettil Murlidharan and Flight Officer Tejinder Singh Sethi.

Indian Army POWs: Major SPS Warraich, Major Kanwaljit Sandhu, Major Jaskiran Singh Malik, Major SC Guleri, Major AK Ghosh, Major Ashok Suri, Captain Ravinder Kaura, Captain Kalyan Singh Rathod, Captain Giri Raj Singh, Captain OP Dalal, Captain Kamal Bakshi, Captain Vashisht Nath, 2nd Lieutenant Sudhir Mohan Sabharwal, 2nd Lieutenant Paras Ram Shama, 2nd Lieutenant Vijay Kumar Azad, Corporal Pal Singh, Subedar Kali Das, Subedar Assa Singh, L/Hav Krishan Lal Sharma, L/Naik Hazoora Singh, L/Naik Balbir Singh, Sepoy S Chauhan, Sepoy Dilar Singh, Sepoy Jagir Singh, Sepoy Jagdish Lal, Gnr Madan Mohan, Gnr Sujan Singh, Gnr Gyan Chand and Gnr Shyam Singh.

Lt Cdr Ashok Roy from Indian Navy and other possible POWs are Flight Lieutenant Sudhesh Kumar Chibber and Captain Dalgir Singh Jamwal.

In 2003, a middle-aged Indian citizen, Gopal Singh, who was arrested from Ganda Singh Border for entering into Pakistan without travelling documents, was imprisoned in Kot Lakhpat Jail and later died on October 28, 2003. His body was sent to the city morgue for an autopsy, but the body decomposed due to negligence.

On January 1, 2004, another Indian Muslim Muhammad Ali, resident of Gopalnagar, Bandipur, had died in the Kot Lakhpat Jail. The authorities concerned after sending his body to the city morgue had written to the Indian authorities in this regard, but to no avail.

Later, the body decomposed in the city morgue.

Press secretary to Indian High Commissioner Ramesh Chandar had said in Gopal Singh’s case the concerned departments had not provided them with correct particulars due to which they were unable to trace his relatives. He had said in Muhammad Ali’s case when they had contacted his relatives, they had allowed performing Ali’s burial in Pakistan.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan