Why a 1971 Prisoner of War’s daughter refuses to give up
The Americans even now trace their missing from World Wars, but for the families of the 54 Prisoners of War of 1971, it has been a long and lonely battle to find out about their fate. With a new book on the subject out, Simmi Waraich, the daughter of PoW Maj SPS Waraich, narrates the story that awaits closure, and calls for a Missing in Action cell in the defence establishment
I remember the beautiful sunrise that spring day, yet something was missing, like always. I would constantly ponder: was my father living a life free to wander, or was he still a prisoner somewhere?
There had been mayhem on the first day of the 1971 war, December 3. The Hussainiwala border allowed traffic in and out of Pakistan till 6:30 pm and then it closed for the night. That day, however, around that time the Pakistani army infiltrated along with the civilian traffic. Since war had not yet been declared, it was a surprise.
There was a hand-to-hand scuffle in the bunkers before 15 Punjab realised that four brigades had attacked them. Maj SPS Waraich was seen by some in a hand-to-hand scuffle and then being dragged away. Unfortunately, though 15 Punjab held out with their tenacity and the help of Indian artillery, they were asked to withdraw on December 4 evening.
A total of 17 men were killed in action and three officers and 31 other ranks were wounded. Two officers, two JCOs and 72 other ranks were missing. On the Pakistani side, nine officers were killed.
The search begins
Ashwini Kumar, then IG of the Border Security Force who had gone to Munich with the Indian hockey team in 1972, found out through Col AI Dara, then manager of the Pakistan team, that Maj Waraich was being held in Dargai jail, NWFP.
Col Dara got this information from Gen Riaz, Governor of Balochistan. Maj Waraich’s name was first in the list of 40 missing defence personnel (later expanded to 54) presented in the Lok Sabha by Samarendu Kundu, Minister of State for External Affairs, in 1979 in reply to a question.
Col Habib Tanwar wrote a book in 2015 “Kaiser-e-Hind – Battle of Husainiwala”, in which he mentioned that Maj Waraich was captured by a Havildar and later killed in friendly fire. However, on enquiring from him directly through a senior retired Pakistani officer, he said he had only heard this and did not even know the name. Hence, this account was debatable.
Wg Cdr HS Gill’s plane crashed near Badin on December 13, 1971. Later, Mohan Lal Bhaskar, a spy from Ferozepur who was repatriated in 1974, wrote in a book “Main Bharat Ka Jasoos Tha” that a Maj Ayaaz Ahmed Sipra and Col Asif Shafi had met him in Kot Lakhpat and told him that they met a Gill of the Indian Air Force in Attock jail. No repatriated Indian prisoner was reported being kept in Attock; they were kept in Lyallpur (now Faislabad) Jail or in an Islamabad guest house.
Need for a probe
When I met GS Gill, Wg Cdr Gill’s brother, and his daughter Natalya, I realised that all the evidence, including the letter from Maj Ashok Suri, was in the very early years after 1971 when no one had heard of the missing men and needed a thorough probe. It just could not be overlooked. The letter from a Mr Gilani to RS Suri informing him that Maj Ashok Suri was being kept as a spy and rotated between Kohat, Swabi, Mardan and Malakand was again a strong piece of evidence that needed looking into.
Natalya later started a campaign. That was how I met them and Dolly Advani, daughter of Flt Lt Advani, and learnt how each person was trying in their own way to find out more. How each person was living a life in half.
Dolly joined IPSI (Indo Pakistan Soldiers Initiative), which consisted of retired soldiers trying to trace the person who shot down her father’s plane. She spoke to repatriated PoWs and meticulously tried to put two and two together. Surely the government could have done this too, but didn’t.
Government apathy
I came to understand only later how India’s apathetic attitude has over the years affected even later incidents. First India has no separate Missing in Action category. My mother received a letter saying Maj Waraich was believed to be Missing in Action. Letters from the CO repeated the same. Then after a year arrived a missive saying “now Believed Killed in Action”! This was because pension and benefits could be released only then.
Over the years, nothing has changed.
War is mayhem and as a result many lose lives. However, it is when you do not know what happened to the men that confusion arises. Which is why we have been again and again asking for a Missing in Action cell with the Ministry of Defence — that can keep records, work on the cases, update them, eliminate cases where there is sufficient evidence that the MIA man was likely Killed in Action and focus on the cases where the evidence points to capture.
Waiting for closure
Family members of the missing visited Pakistan twice on their invitation in 1983 when hopes were high and again in 2007. Damayanti Tambay, a well known teacher in JNU, and GS Gill were there both times. She along with Dr RS Suri and others had practically met all the PMs, all the Ministers of External Affairs and innumerable others.
In 2007, 14 family members went to Pakistan for two weeks and visited 10 jails. By the end, many were frazzled at the lack of any spadework by the Indian government.
At the end of the trip, when the Indian envoy told us that there was no reason to disbelieve the Pakistan President (Gen Musharraf), we looked at him in some consternation. On our return, we again asked for a separate MIA cell.
Is the government not responsible for tracing its soldiers?
Chander Suta Dogra’s book “Missing in Action, The Prisoners Who Never Came Back” brings out all these points. It is a must read for all defence personnel.
