Ask Pak to punish tormentors of Capt Kalia: Father to govt

Ravinder Sood

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Palampur, December 7

Dr NK Kalia, father of Captain Saurabh Kalia who was the first to sacrifice his life in the 1999 Kargil war, said here on Friday that he would continue his fight to seek justice for his son.

He said that in the changed political scenario in Pakistan, the Government of India must take up the issue with the new Prime Minister of Pakistan to punish those who indulged in the most dastardly acts of burning bodies with cigarettes, piercing ears with hot iron rods, removing eyes before puncturing them, breaking most of the bones and teeth, chopping off various limbs and private parts of Indian soldiers, including his son.

Dr Kalia said he was proud of his son and his team who fought for 22 days undergoing the worst ordeal. The enemy gave in, but these valiant sons did not break, he said.

“The Pakistan Army has to shoot them ultimately. The post-mortem conducted by the Indian Army reveals all this. The post-mortem report also confirmed that injuries were inflicted ante-mortem (before death), said Dr Kalia.

Dr Kalia said that he was moving from pillar to post for the past 18 years and approached the Government of India and several national and international organisations to pressurise Pakistan to identify, book and punish those who indulged in the most heinous inhuman crime and kept his son in captivity for three weeks and subjected him to unprecedented brutal torture to get justice for his son.

Dr Kalia said though 18 years had passed, his wounds were yet to be healed. He said not only the parents, but the Indian Army and the nation as a whole had lost a dedicated and honest solider.

Dr Kalia has been waging a constant battle to get this declared a war crime in accordance with the Geneva Convention so that the guilty can be punished. He even approached the Supreme Court in 2012 seeking directions to the government to raise his son’s case in the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Dr Kalia also filed a petition with the United Nations Human Rights Council. He said, “I will continue to fight, hoping against hope till my last breath.”