Will Pakistan Ever Release Our Jailed Soldiers?

Bangalore: It has been over three decades since the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation.  It goes down as one of the proudest moments in the history of India.  But, there is a forgotten chapter to this historic battle- the chapter of 54 Indian prisoners of war (PoW) still languishing in Pakistan jails.

Despite continued efforts by the Indian government to secure the release of these soldiers, Pakistan has refused to even acknowledge their presence in its custody, let alone release them.

Defence Minister A K Antony, in his written replies, said the same to the questions raised by the Lok Sabha members. "Fifty-four missing defence personnel of 1965 and 1971 wars are believed to be in the custody in Pakistan. The government has repeatedly been taking up the matter with the Pakistan government. However, Pakistan does not acknowledge the presence of any such personnel," he said.          

He further added that a 14 member delegation consisting of the missing soldiers’ relatives visited Pakistani jails in 2007 but could not conclusively confirm the physical presence of anyone.

"However, the families of the missing defence personnel have been given liberalised pensionary/rehabilitation benefits as per extant rules," Antony said.

The court had recently issued a landmark judgement in favour of the kin of missing defence personnel. This was after hearing a petition filed by late Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Arora. Arora’s lawyers Kishor Paul and M K Paul had sought high court intervention and direction from the court to the central government to secure the release of PoWs of the 1971 war.