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| PoW kins for search of mental asylums | | |
ISLAMABAD Wednesday, June 13
An Indian delegation searching for 13 missing Indian soldiers in Pakistani jails on Tuesday sought access to military prisons and mental asylums after they were unable to find any prisoners of war in Pakistan’s civilian jails.
Speaking at a press conference, they said a written request had been made seeking permission to visit Attock Fort, where they believe some of the missing soldiers were once detained. Gurbir Singh Gill, looking for his missing brother, said a request had also been made to meet retired armed forces personnel who were involved in the repatriation process of 1971, as they may be able to reveal some useful information. He said the delegation had irrefutable evidence that their missing family members were in Pakistan.
He showed a Dhaka newspaper headline from 1971 proclaiming, ‘Flight Lt Tambay was among five Indian pilots taken alive by Pakistani forces’ to substantiate his claim. Flt Lt Tambay and 53 other servicemen reported captured by Pakistani forces did not return home with the 650 PoWs Islamabad repatriated after the 1972 Shimla accord.
The delegation also presented a photograph from the December 1971 issue of Time magazine, captioned ‘Indian prisoner behind bars’ that, according to them, showed Major AK Ghosh, one of the missing soldiers. “Another piece of evidence is a letter from Major Ashok Suri to his father RK Suri from 1975, saying that 20 Indian soldiers were being held in Karachi,” Gill added. He also referred to BBC correspondent Victoria Schofield’s book, ‘Bhutto: Trial and Execution’ in which she wrote that Zulfiqar Bhutto was incarcerated next to a barrack with Indian PoWs from the 1971 war in the Kot Lakhpat jail in 1979.
He said another missing soldier, Major Kanwaljeet Singh Sandhu had written a letter to then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1980, asking her to make efforts for the release of 35 Indian defence personnel. Gill said some soldiers might have become insane or deliberately tried to conceal their identities and thus a visit to military detention centres and mental asylums could be helpful.
Ajit Singh, a member of the delegation, said he had met with Federal Parliamentary Defence Secretary Maj (r) Tanvir Hussain Syed who had told him that his brother GR Singh had been killed during the war while fighting valiantly and had been buried with dignity in recognition of his bravery.
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