Tuesday 25 September 2012

Indian Prisoners Of War In Pakistani Jails

54 Indian soldiers were lost during the 1971 Indo-Pak and we are still unaware as to where they are! Sons of India who fought for Her honor and were later forgotten. Concrete evidence has filtered over time to establish that Indian Prisoners of War are being held in Pakistani jails. Over the past 42 years the relatives of these missing soldiers have been consistently pleading with both the Indian and Pakistani authorities to show mercy and facilitate their release; to no effect. It is time for us to join hands to finally bring our soldiers back home.







Last Letter Received From Maj Ashok Suri




Maj Ashok Suri, was declared killed in action untill his father Dr. Suri received two letters from his son during 1974 and 1975 stating that he and twenty other Indian military officers were languishing in Pakistani jails. Handwriting experts confirmed that the letter was indeed written by Maj Ashok Suri.













Fighter pilot Flt Lt V V Tambay Shot Down and Captured Alive


The Sunday Pakistan Observer, dated 5 Dec 1971 reported from Rawalpindi for 4 Dec 1971 that five Indian pilots had been shot down and captured alive. One of them was Flt Lt Tambay. Tambay's wife had a chance meeting in 1978 with a Bangladeshi Naval Officer who was taken prisoner in Pakistan during the war. In Lyallpur jail he had came across a person named Tambay. The officer remembered that Tambay had a scar on the chin (which was true she confirmed) Daljit Singh, who was repatriated from Pakistan on 24 Mar 1988 had last seen Flight Lieutenant Tambay at the Lahore Interrogation Centre in Feb 1978.



Veer Chakra - Capt Ravinder Kaura

His name was announced on Radio Lahore on 7 Dec 1991 as one of the captured PW’s. His photograph was smuggled into India from a Pakistani jail and published by a newspaper in Ambala in 1972. Someone who had been with Captain Kaura in the Pakistani jail came to see L.D.Kaura (Ravinder's father) in 1979 (The Govt. of India had in the meantime declared Captain Kaura dead and awarded him a Veer Chakra posthumously. Further information came in that Captain Kaura was being kept in Lahore, Multan, Sahiwal and Rawalpindi jails. Mukhtiar Singh, repatriated from Pakistan on 5 July 1988 said that Captain Kaura was in Multan jail around 1981 and was presently held in Kot Lakhpat jail.




Maj Ashok Ghosh Missing In Action In Fazilka Theater Of Operations
                      
Major AK Ghosh was the youngest of five brothers. He joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and joined the 15th Rajput Regiment. Ashutosh Ghosh his elder brother said that his kid brother had always seen their father and three elder brothers in uniform and it was only natural that he, Maj Ashok Ghosh don the olive greens. During the 1971 war Major Ghosh, (barely 25) an infantry company column to defend India's borders in the Fazilka theatre of operations in Punjab. His family received a telegram that Major AK Ghosh was missing and presumed killed in action. Time magazine of 27 Dec 1971 carried a photograph of an Indian prisoner behind bars in a Pakistani jail. The photo turned out to be that of Major A.K.Ghosh who failed to return with the Indian POWs repatriated to India later.







About this Blogger 

I am the daughter of one of these brave men. I was barely 8 months old when my father Maj Ashok Ghosh went to defend our country and never returned. All I have is a photograph of him carrying me in his lap. I appeal to you all to support my quest in getting these brave soldiers back home. Please join my blog to show your support for this just cause. Let us, at least in their old age, give them the dignity and honor that they much deserve. Any information regarding these lost soldiers shall be much welcome.