President Musharraf’s invitation to kin of POWs to visit Pakistani prisons to look for their loved ones is welcome news for many.
JAMMU: Even after years of struggle, families of innumerable missing soldiers in Jammu are clueless about their kin who went missing in the 1971 India -Pakistan war.
Sixty-year-old Ramji Lal almost broke into tears as he tried to recollect the 1971 war saga. Lal’s brother, Lieutenant Parasram of 58-GR, went “missing” while fighting the Pakistani army in the Chamb sector. Almost 36 years have passed, yet the search is far from over.
“We were told by some Prisoners Of War (POW), released by the Pakistani authorities, that Lt Parasram was alive and has been lodged in one of the jails in Pakistan. The army had told us that he died in action,” said Lal, who is himself an ex-serviceman.
For the last 36 years, Lal’s family has suffered in silence. His mother, Krishna Banti, died in the grief of her lost son. Lt Parasram’s wife, Asha Devi, passed away 14 months ago without being able to see her husband for once. “She was married for two years and had a one-year-old son when her husband went missing,” he said. In fact, Lal’s family is one among the many who are unwilling to believe that their wards have died in action. There are no records that prove that the men are languishing in Pakistani jails.
Fifty-five-year old Nirmal Kour of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, has left no stone unturned to locate her husband Subaidar Assa Singh. Singh, who belonged to the 5-Sikh regiment, went missing in the 1971 war.
“We were told that my husband died in action. And when we were holding prayer services, we received the news that he is alive and has been taken prisoner by the Pakistan army. Since then, we have tried everything possible to track my husband, but to no avail,” said Kour.
Meanwhile, president Musharraf’s statement inviting missing soldiers’ families to visit Pakistan jails has rekindled fresh hope among many families of the POWs.
“We should be allowed to visit Pakistan, so that we can trace our loved ones. An agonising wait of 36 years has left us shattered and disoriented,” said Lal.
Subaidar Kali Das’s wife Kanta Devi has even written a letter to President APJ Abdul Kalam seeking his intervention to locate her husband. Subaidar Das of 8-JAKLI went missing in 1971 and since then the family has received information from different sources that he is lodged in a Pakistan jail after being captured by Pakistani army.
“We expect that foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee will also take up the issue with the Pakistani authorities,” said Kour.
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