Their presence in that country has not been acknowledged by Pakistan so far.
New Delhi: Even as India celebrates the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was captured by the Pakistani army in an escalated aerial dogfight between India and Pakistan earlier this week, there are 74 other Indian defence officials held as Prisoners of War (PoW) and are believed to be languishing in Pakistani jails for decades now.
These 74 missing defence personnel are believed to have been held captive as PoWs by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, but the Pakistani government has often denied at various platforms the presence of these 74 defence personnel from the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.
These missing soldiers have been given by the Government of India the status of “Missing in Action” (MIA) or “Killed in Action” after the war was over in 1971. The Ministry of External Affairs had also confirmed and told Parliament in 2017 that “There are 74 Missing Defence Personnel (MDP) who are believed to be in Pakistan’s custody, but whose presence has not been acknowledged so far by Pakistan.”
The 74 missing defence personnel include those from the ranks of Lieutenants, Majors, Captains, Subedars, Naik Lieutenants, Havaldars and sepoys from the Indian Army, while ranked officers like that of Wing Commander, Flight Officers, Flight Lieutenants and Squadron Leaders from the Indian Air Force have been kept captive as PoWs in Pakistan.
From 1971 to 1989, Pakistan had completely denied the existence of these soldiers on their soil, only later to be accepted by former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who had then told Indian officials that indeed these men were in Pakistan’s captivity and the Prime Minister would “seriously” look into the release of these personnel.
However, Pakistan backtracked from its word years later. In 2004, when President Pervez Musharraf was at the helm of affairs in Pakistan, the Pakistani army formally denied the existence of any Indian PoW in Pakistan.
The then Pakistani military spokesperson, Major General Rashid Qureshi had said, “There are no Indian Prisoners of War (PoWs) in Pakistan. We had investigated the matter on President Pervez Musharraf’s instructions, but found no Indian PoW. If there is any evidence of Indian PoWs, we are more than willing to look into it.”
The families of these personnel have also approached the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross several times, but none of them could do anything for them.
Some family members have also expressed their anguish over successive governments not being able to do enough for their own soldiers and bring them back when the war was over.
During the Shimla peace agreement, India had transferred to Pakistan over 90,000 Pakistani PoWs held during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, a committee of kin of the MDP visited jails in Pakistan in 2007, but could not find evidence of their presence. However, families of these personnel who had visited various jails in Pakistan had come back and said that the Indian PoWs were being continuously shifted out from one jail to another during their visit.
On September 2015, when the families had approached the Supreme Court of India through several human rights groups to intervene in the matter and direct the government to take this matter up with the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, the apex court had questioned the Government of India about their whereabouts.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for External Affairs and Defence Ministries, told a bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph: “We don’t know; we presume that they are dead as Pakistan has been denying their presence in their prisons.”
However, the Ministry of External Affairs has told Parliament that the Government continues to raise this matter with the Government of Pakistan and has raised the matter with the Government of Pakistan on numerous occasions, including at high level meetings.