The forgotten 54

The forgotten 54
Posted by Simmiwm on Tuesday, 2/01/2005 10:52 AM MST
Yesterday on the 31st of January there was a small meeting of people at the India Gate in New Delhi. The India Gate pays
homage to the soldiers who died in World war I. The meeting yesterday was to pay homage to soldiers, albeit soldiers from
the 1971 Indo Pakistan war who had been declared “Missing in action” and a pledge to them that they have not been
forgotten. It was a reminder that we are still pursuing the case and will not rest till the Pakistani government gives some
answers as to what happened to these men?
More than 92,000 Pakistanis were taken Prisoners of War by India and likewise in the western sector, many Indians were
taken prisoner. They were released after the Simla agreement between Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar A Bhutto, the Pakistan
Premier in 1972. 54 Indian men (20 of them officers), however, were forgotten as the Pakistani government denied their
existence despite announcing their capture in various radio and television bulletins and the Indian government failed to
secure their release. These unfortunate men may have continued to languish in prison for the last 33 years.

Maj Suri wrote a letter to his father from a jail in Karachi in 1975 four years after the war affirming that he was well and
lodged with 20 other officers there and to make efforts with the Indian government for their release (see attachment). His
father, Dr Suri, after receiving the missive devoted his entire life to the cause; writing incessantly to the Indian government
and the relatives and forming the Missing Defence Personnel Association in a collective but futile effort to get the
forgotten men back. He died in 1999.

For years relatives kept pursuing the matter with the Indian Government quietly, scared that any undue hue and cry may
mean that any chance that the Pakistanis may return them would fritter away. So 33 years have passed. Indian cinema
even made a film, a true Bollywood style drama where the 54 finally escape after years in prisons and reach India. Reality
however is otherwise. In 1996, Riaz Khokhar, foreign Minister of Pakistan in India said in an interview that they knew of no
Indian army men in their jails. Then he went ahead to say that if they were there maybe they were under assumed names!
Why should men whose names were announced by the Pakistani media during the war as having been captured later
change their names was something he didnt explain? He also stated that around 350 Pakistani army regulars were also
believed to be in Indian prisons but as the Indian government had denied it the Pakistan government had told the relatives
to think of them as martyrs of the country and give them up as dead! The Indian families have refused to do that and have
been following the matter for years now. How can one give them up as dead when they may still be languishing there? Even
if they did die there, Pakistan still needs to give an answer. The issue wont just go away till there are some answers. The
families need closure. There are parents waiting, wives who still wait hoping they will return to spend their last few days at
home in their country, children who have never seen their fathers. They live with the thought constantly in the back of their
minds that their sons/husbands/fathers may still be in a prison in Pakistan, 33 years later after the war ended. When will
the war end for these men?
Over time, some civilians returned from Pakistani jails, who are debriefed by the Indian Government before being allowed to
return to the mainstream. Some of these men on their return spoke of meeting and seeing the missing army personnel in
Pakistani jails.

The Pakistan’s government’s contention all along has been that it does not have any Indian prisoners of war and it invited
the relatives to identify any such prisoners. A small group of relatives went to Multan jail in 1983 to identify any such
prisoners in the hope that it would give the Pakistan government a way to release these men by going along with their
assertion that they didn’t know about any defence personnel and these men may be there under other assumed names and
if identified they may be allowed to return home. However, the exercise proved to be one of futility as the Pakistan
government refused to show all Indian prisoners under all categories. The security prisoners were not shown. Now of the
54, even if one presumes that half lost their mental balance due to the trauma and the hardships and were unable to say
who they were, not all can be assumed to be incapable of identifying themselves. Second and more importantly, these men
were captured in uniform, most of them carried identification and most of their names were announced on Pakistan
radio(details given below). If on capture, they were identified, it is unlikely that they would later get lost in the prisons.
Surely the Pakistan jails have some system of identifying and recording details of prisoners. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE
MEN WHOSE CAPTURE WAS ANNOUNCED? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PERSON WHOSE PHOTOGRAPH APPEARED IN
TIME MAGAZINE AS A PRISONER ON 27.12.71? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PERSON WHO MANAGED TO SEND A LETTER
TO HIS FATHER IN 1975 YEARS AFTER THE WAR? THEIR STORIES NEED TO BE TOLD. THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS NEED TO BE
MET.

The Pakistan government released on 10.08.2004 two prisoners from the Kargil conflict in 1999, ie Jagseer Singh and
Mohd Arif. These men were labelled deserters by the Indian side and the Pakistan government gave no news of their being
captured thereby violating the Geneva Conventions. It was only when the relatives of these two received information from
the men that they were alive and well and in prison in Pakistan that the process of bringing them back to India started.
They were released 5 years later in 2004. In 2001, President Musharraf at the Agra summit categorically stated that the
Pakistanis had combed their jails but not found any POWs. If despite holding these two prisoners of war, the Pakistani
government did not admit to their existence in this day and age, it is no wonder that 33 years back, the forgotten 54 were
not handed back by the Pakistani government.

It has been 33 plus years now. What do we expect? There have been blatant human rights violations. It seems futile to
expect that the Paksitani government to holding these men now. It would bring international disrepute. Yet these men cant
just be forgotten. The evidence pertaining to their presence there is too strong. Even if their rights were impinged upon
earlier by previous Pakistani regimes, the current regime can, at the least attempt to give credence to their humanitarian
credentials and make an effort to rectify the past mistakes of previous regimes by undoing the wrong and releasing these
POWs. India and Pakistan have been talking of peace. It is time to translate this talk into action. The least that can be done
is to inform the long waiting relatives of the fate of these men. The Indian government has not sought any third party
mediation or even placed the matter before the U.N. Human Rights Commission despite repeated requests of the relatives.
It is unfortunate that basic human rights of these forgotten prisoners of war are being neglected while the Indian and
Pakistani governments carry on playing a game of oneupmanship for the last 33 years.
That is what the families of these men want, to make peace with the demons of the 1971 Indo –Pak war by learning of the
fate of these men and coming to terms with the ultimate reality. THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD AND BE KNOWN TO ALL. Any
survivors should be finally brought back home to spend their last few years in their own country with their families. Or the
families should be informed what did happen to these men. Then only will the war end for them. Then only will they know
that any human rights exist for them.

We are searching for any news relating to these men. Some people have even said that some may have been rehabilitated
in Pakistan. We are searching for any clues. If they died in the Fort of Attock, then when and how did they die? If anyone
has any answers or any sources to find information, please contact us.

Look up

www.chowk.com/ show_article.cgi?aid=00004027&channel=civic%20center

EVIDENCE PERTAINING TO THEIR CAPTURE

1). In a book published in 1980 titled “Bhutto- Trial and Execution” written by Victoria Schofield, a senior BBC London
reporter, covering the period 1978 when Bhutto was detained in Kot Lakhpat jail, Lahore. Page No. 59 reads: ‘‘(Bhutto’s) cell
separated from a barrack area by a 10 foot 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.”
‘‘...Fifty-odd lunatics were lodged in the ward next to mine. Their screams and shrieks in the dead of night are something I
will not forget,’’ wrote former Pakistan prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, referring to Indian Prisoners of War of 1965 and
1971 who were kept in a cell next to his in Kot Lakhpat prison.
2). The name of Major Ashok Suri was mentioned on January 6 and 7, 1972 in Punjabi Darbar programme of Lahore. His
father also received letters from a Karachi jail on August 13th 1975 dated June 14/15/16th 1975 stating that their were 20
other officers with him there.
3). Mohanlal Bhaskar, who was in a jail between 1968 and 1974 and repatriated on 09.12.1974 wrote a book ( I was a spy
for India) and gave a signed affidavit stating that in Fort of Attock, A Pakistani Major Ayaj Ahmed Sipra (imprisoned for
conspiring against Bhutto) spoke of his befriending a Gill of the Indian Air Force and a Captain Singh of the Indian Army as
well as mentioning that there were around 40 Pows of the 1965 and 1971 wars in that jail who had no chances of release.
4). Mukhtayar Singh, who was repatriated from Pakistan on July 5, 1988, says Captain Giriraj Singh is still lodged in Kot
Lakhpat jail. Singh also reportedly saw Captain Kamal Bakshi in Multan jail around 1983. He says Bakshi could be either in
Multan jail or Bhawalpur jail. There are numerous other such eyewitness reports.
5). Flight Lt. V.V. Tambay’s name was published in the Pakistan paper, Sunday PakistanObserver on December 5, 1971 as
Flt Lt Tombay. It said five Indian pilots were captured . Pakistan did not include his name in the list of Pows and the Indian
government forgot to secure his release. Daljit Singh, repatriated on March 4, 1988, said he had seen Flight Lt. Tambay at
the Lahore interrogation centre in February 1978.
6). The name of flying officer Sudhir Tyagi, whose plane was shot down near Peshawar on December 4, 1971, was
announced over Pakistan Radio the next day. Ghulam Husain s/o Hayat Dutt who was repatriated from Pakistan on
24.03.1988 said that he had seen F/O Tyagi at Shahi Qila, Lahore in 1973.
7).Flt Lt Harvinder Singh’s name was announced on 05.12.1971 on Pakistan radio that he had been captured.
8).Capt Ravinder Kaura’s name was announced on Lahore radio on 07.12.71. Mukhtiar Singh who was repatriated on
05.07.1988 said that Capt Kaura was in Multan jail around 1981 and was in Kot Lakhpat jail later.
9). Wing Commander HS Gill’s plane was shot down over Badin on 13.12.71. Pakistan radio gave news of his capture the
same day. Subsequently the news was reported to be incorrect and Pakistani authorities mentioned that a plane was shot
down over Badin but the identity of the pilot could not be ascertained till after the war (How could his correct name then be
announced on the same day?).
10). Flt Lt Sudhir K Goswami’s plane was shot down over Sarghda on 05.12.71 at about 7.00pm. the same day at 1130 pm
Radio Lahore announced his capture.
11). Maj SPS Waraich’s name was reportedly announced on 5/6th Dec 1971 as being captured after he and Maj KJS
Sandhu were captured on 03.12.1971 from the Husainiwala sector. He was subsequently reportedly seen in Multan jail in
January, 1988 by Mohinder Singh s/o Banka Singh who was repatriated on 24.03.88. He says he saw him again in Kot
Lakhpat jail in February, 1988.
12). Time magazine dated December 24, 1971, carried a photograph of Indian prisoners behind bars. The photograph
turned out to be that of Major A.K. Ghosh, who did not return with the rest of the POWs.
13). 2nd Lt Paras Lal Sharma: His father heard his particulars being announced on Pak radio on Jan 2nd, 8th and
November 29th. L/ Nk Ram Lal (retd) ( no 9071130) of erstwhile 2 JAK Militia after his return from Pakistan said that he
had met 2nd Lt Paras Sharma in Lahore jail for 5 days from 20.04.73 to 24.04 73 while awaiting his repatriation to India.
14) Balwan Singh, an Indian prisoner who returned home to India on 03.10.1998 after 9 years in Pakistan prisons claims to
have met Indian POWs of the 1971 war. He said there were seven jails in which the POWs were rotated. He distinctly
remembered one of the POWs as Jagdish Raj Chandra who was being kept in “Phansi ki Kothi”(Fort of Attock) with other
POWs. (LNk Jagdish Raj figures in the list of 54 POWs).
15). General Yeager of the Pakistan Air Force has written a book of his role in the Pakistan human rights commission and
has written of his interviewing about 20 Indian pilots of the 1965 and 1971 wars who are still lodged in Pakistani prisons.
List of Indian PoWs
Prisoner's Name & Rank RANK UNIT

1. Major SPS Waraich IC-12712 15 Punjab

2. Major Kanwaljit Singh Sandhu IC-14590 15 Punjab
3. Lt SM Sabharwal SS-23957 87 Lt Regiment
4. Capt Ravinder Kaura SS-20095 39 Med Regiment
5. Sq Ldr MK Jain 5327-F(P)
6. Flt Lt Sudhir Kumar Goswami 8956-F(P)
7. Flying Officer Sudhir Tyagi 10871-F(P)
8. Flt Lt Vijay Vasant Tambay 7662 -F(P)
9. Flt Lt Nagaswami Shanker 9773-F(P)
10. Sq Ldr PN Malhotra
11. Flt Lt SK Chibber
12. Capt GR Singh IC-23283 5 Assam
13. Capt OP Dalal SS-22536 Grenadiers
14. Maj AK Ghosh IC-18790 15 Rajput
15. Maj AK Suri SS-19807 5 Assam
16. Capt KS Rathod IC23148 5Assam
17. Flt Lt Ram Metharam Advani 7812-F(P)
18. Flt Lt Manohar Purohit 10249(N) 5 Squadron
19. Flt Lt Tanmaya Singh Dandoss 8160-F(P)
20. Wg Cdr Harsharan Singh Gill 4657-F(P)
21. Flt Lt Babul Guha 5105-F(P)
22. Flt Lt Suresh Chander Sandal 8659-F(P)
23. Major JS Malik IC-14457 8 Raj. Rifles
24. Major SC Guleri IC-20230 9 Jat
25. 2nd Lt VK Azad IC-58589 1/9 G R
26. 2nd Lt JalManeckshaw Mistry 5006-F(P)
27. Capt Kamal Bakshi IC-19294 5 Sikh
28. Flt Lt Harvinder Singh 9441-F(P)
29. Sqn Ldr Jatinder Das Kumar 4896-F(P)
30. Flt Lt LM Sassoon 7419-F(P)
31. Flt Lt Kushal Pal Singh Nanda 781N-F(N)
32. Flying Officer Krishan Lakhimal Malkani 10576-F(P)
33. Flt Lt Ashok Balwant Dhavale 9030-F(P)
34. Flt Lt L Shrikant Chanderkant Mahajan 10239-F(P)
35. 2nd Lt PR Sharma SS-22490 5/8 G R
36. Flt Lt Gurudev Singh Rai 9015-F(P)
37. Flt Lt RS Kadam 8404-F(P)
38. Flying Officer KP Murlidharan 10575-F(P)
39. Capt DS Jamwal 81 Field Regiment
40. Capt Washisht Nath Attock
41. Lt H Krishna Lal 13719585 1 JK Rifles
42. Naval Pilot Commanding Officer A Roy
43. Sqn Ldr Devaprasad Chatterjee
44. Subedar Assa Singh JC-41339 5 Sikh
45. Subedar Kalidas JC-59 8 JK
46. L/Nk Jagdish Lal 9208735 Mahaar Regiment
47. Naik Hazoora Singh 682211303
48. Gunner Sujan Singh 1146819 14 FD Regiment
49. Sepoy Daler Singh 2461830 15 Punjab
50. Sepoy Pal Singh 1239603 181 Lt Regiment
51. Sepoy Jagir Singh 2459067 16 Punjab
52. Officer TS Sethi
53. Gunner Madan Mohan 1157419 94 Mountain Regiment
54. Gunner Gyan Chand

Dr Simmi Waraich d/o Maj SPS Waraich

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