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| Relatives of PoWs say they have evidence, demand probe | | | ISLAMABAD, JUNE 10
Relatives of missing Indian prisoners of war today said the evidence collected during their visit to Pakistani jails has reinforced their belief that their loved ones are languishing in this country and asked President Pervez Musharraf to order an investigation to help locate them.
"We want President Musharraf to order an investigation to look into the strands of evidence we collected before and during our visit," Damayanthi Tambay, 59, wife of Ft Lt V V Tambay, who went missing during 1971 war, said.
Tambay claimed she had received several communications about her husband's whereabouts in Pakistani prison.
The kin of POWs now want an investigation involving Red Cross, the two governments and the relatives to go into the evidence.
Tambay and 13 other relatives of POWs reached here last night for a three-day halt after visiting prisons in Lahore, Karachi, Sukkar, Sahiwal Multan and Faisalabad.
During the next three days they would visit prisons around Islamabad including Rawalpindi prison to see records and to interact with jail officials and prisoners.
The relatives consisting of men and women say they are now awaiting a response to their request for a meeting with Musharraf so that they can "convince" him with the evidence they have that the oft repeated assertion of Pakistani officials that there are no POWs here was wrong.
"If they think that we will give up our quest to locate our beloved after this visit, the governments of Pakistan and India are mistaken. If anything else our resolve has been strengthened by our visit here," B K Suri, president, Missing Defence Personnel Relatives Association, said.
The relatives asserted that while on the face of it, their visit to prisons may appear futile, but they have some "concrete leads" that 54 Indian POWs were kept in different prisons.
"Our request for an audience with President Musharraf and a visit to Attock Fort jail are pending and we hope both will materialise," G S Gill, who is looking for his younger brother Wing Commander HS Gill, said.
They have not been given permission to visit Attock prison where most of the foreign prisoners were believed to have been kept.
However, the team feels that after the years of efforts, the visit has a provided a "new lease of life" to their campaign to trace the POWs.
"The trip is a good step forward and has given our campaign a new lease of life and people in Pakistan and India are now increasingly aware about our insistence for a thorough probe," Simmi Warach, whose father Major S.P.S. Warach went missing, said.
The 14 relatives visit was facilitated by Pakistan government in coordination with its Indian counterpart.
While Pakistan provided visas and permissions to visit prisons, the Indian government facilitated their stay, travel and deputed Indian diplomats to coordinate their travel.
Recalling their visit to Karachi prison, Gill said he had shown the letter his son wrote about himself and 20 other Indian POWs in Karachi to the officials there.
"The prison official looked at the letter and said it was from Karachi but asked where was it mentioned that they were kept in Karachi prison," he said, indicating that perhaps they were kept elsewhere.
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