Indian Armed Forces: कुछ याद उन्हे भी करलो जो लौट के घर ना आये

This line is sung as a tribute to the soldiers who made the greatest sacrifice for the country by laying their lives to save the country in the 1962 war with China. But, individually, it reminds me of those officers who were made Prisoners Of War in the 1971 Bangladesh war, and unfortunately, could not come home. Even their existence is denied by Pakistan to this date; obviously, there was no question of their return. The evidence kept reaching their families in bits and pieces, yet their long wait never ended. The members of their families still hope that they are alive and one day they will come back home.


Right from my college days, the news about the missing soldiers kept catching my attention. There used to be some news in newspapers or magazines, reading those always made me curious and frustrated too.

No one knows the whereabouts of the people missing since the 1971 Bangladesh war. They are called the ' missing 54 ', who never returned home. Initially, it was stated that they died in action, but as things unfolded, it was realised that they were made Prisoners Of War. Their names, it seems, never made it to the list of POWs; they were listed under some different category. So, when our POWs came home, they were not part of those batches. Their wives, sons, daughters, and parents patiently waited for their turn; alas, that moment never came.

They cannot be believed to be dead for the want of evidence, but their whereabouts could never be known for sure.
Pakistan never accepted being in jail, but the hope never died. The few who returned to Bharat from the Pakistan jail after completing their jail terms,have confirmed their existence,having seen them,or having a little exchange with them. Every time such news raises hopes, but the path gets closed with no outcome. Most of them might be very old now, or we might have lost some of them by now. No concrete information is available, which adds to the pain of the family members. Some of their relatives, especially their parents, might have died with the hope of seeing them alive one day. After 55 years, most of our officers might have reached or crossed the age of 80. What could be their mental state? Would they be in a condition to recognise their motherland or their surviving family members?
These are our own trained and dedicated officers, who were on their duty, how can they be forgotten and left to face the tyranny, torture and die?

Recently watched an interview of Ms Damayanti Tambe, the wife of flight lieutenant Vijay Tambe, who belongs to the list of the missing 54, conducted by Ms Barakha Dutt. She was 23 when she got married to him; he was a trained officer. They could just spend 18 months together, she saw him last in the month of December 1971. From that day, her hope never died; she never stopped waiting for him. She joined Jawahar Lal Neharu University as a sports director after he went to war and couldn't return. She retired from the job, but there is still no closure. All they expect is some kind of trustworthy information.

Individually, no one or the group of relatives of the ' Missing In Action ' can do anything to get them back home. It is a matter between the two countries that fought 5 wars ( including the 'Operation Sindoor ' ). Only the government can deal with this kind of serious, difficult and very complex issue.

Some stories are very disturbing; they provide some evidence, some hope, but things don't progress from after the point.

A part of Time magazine, dated 27 December 1971, shows a man peering through the bars; he is believed to be Maj. A K Ghosh and the man behind him, feels Ms Damayanti Tambe, is Flt Lt V. V. Tambe. The matter was probably never pursued to the logical end, the families feel.

Maj. Suri's father received a small piece of paper stating that Maj Suri was alive and was in Pakistan in an inland letter. He received it on 21 December 1974. Then received a letter probably written from Karachi on 14,15,16 June 1975. It states that there were 20 more officers with him. Parents were requested to contact the Government Of India about them. The handwritings were matched and was found to match. Unfortunately, the efforts bore no fruit.
Sukhdev Singh,a carpenter, who had been to Oman on a work visa in May 2010. He went to work on Masriah Island in Oman for work. The complex appeared like a prison to him. It is known as the Old Jail. He was approached by a man who spoke fluent Punjabi. He introduced himself as Sepoy Jaspal Singh of the Punjab regiment ( gave his number too ). He was captured by the Pakistani army at Hassainiwala near the Ferozpur border along with 4 other soldiers on 4th of December 1971. They were in a Pakistani prison for 5-6 years, then transferred to the island prison in Oman. Jaspal Singh knew the village Sukhdev belonged to. He told him about his wife, Ms Baljit Kaur, gave his address, appealed for his release and asked him to contact his family.

Similarly, a spy, Bhogal Ram, on his return, gave a statement that he saw Subedar Assa Singh in the military interrogation centre in Pakistan in 1998. His statement is written in Urdu.

Mohan Lal Bhaskar submitted an affidavit which gave information about 45 Indian officers, including Wg Cdr H S Gill, in Pakistan's Attock jail.

Similarly, Mukhtiar Singh too conveyed to the father of Capt Ravinder Kaura about his being well in Pakistan jail on 3rd March 1989.

The uncle of Flt Lt Vijay Tambe, Jayant Jatar, a retired Maharashtra government officer, had been to Pakistan with the under-19 cricket team in 1989. He requested General Tikka Khan at a tea party that he wanted to know about Tambey, as his grandmother wished to know. He was blindfolded and taken to a place 45 minutes' drive. He was taken to a building with a row of rooms. He saw Vijay from 15 feet away and recognised him. Tried to catch his attention, but in vain. He was whisked away and was not allowed to talk.

People who gave the information are our own people who knew the value of the information to the families. Government did follow the lead, but nothing happened.

Of course, some narratives describe officers as dead, not captured alive. There was always some doubt about the exchange of people between the two countries. None of the officers of missing 54 list was sent back. Initially, there was no category of missing soldiers in war, so they were presumed to be dead, even given awards. Later, it seems the category of missing was created. Now it is an official list.

Some believe that these officers were not listed as POWs by Pakistan, so they were not repatriated when POWs were exchanged. These names never appeared in any list. Some feel they were detained as a bargaining chip. Pakistan never accepted their existence, constantly denied.

Our country repatriated approximately 93000 POWs. It seems that somehow the number of our missing soldiers was not confirmed; we had sufficient time to enquire carefully and find the actual number. Had the advantage of having won the war decisively, something went wrong, and they could never return to their motherland.

Twice the relatives had a visit to jails in Pakistan organised by the government. They were shown some jails and some inmates; obviously, both visits had no outcome. Probably the intention was different; it was to convey a message to the world that Pakistan did everything possible to satisfy them. They had very limited access to the inmates and the data. The entries are very old; there might be confusion about some people informally conveying that their suspicion was right, that the officers were in jail. Just visiting the jails and interacting with the officials was of no use. The first visit had some hopes, but the second visit was in a way of no use.

It was claimed that some pilots died when their aircraft were damaged. It was said that their bodies were buried at the spot of the crash itself, but the team that visited Pakistan never had an opportunity to visit the site. Nothing was conclusively proved. The relatives of the missing officers want some clear information; they are ready to face the truth, but it keeps evading them.

Our country helped Bangladesh secure independence with all its might, but somehow the mystery or the puzzle remains. People are restive as there is no closure, the generation of parents is no more, the second generation is still hopeful, so are we all.