The 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war captured at the end of the war in 1971 are always prominently mentioned at any commemorative events held to commemorate the war anniversary. But little has been made public about how the Indian military conducted the enormous administrative and logistical exercise of boarding, feeding and guarding these thousands of prisoners.
camp
POW camps were located all over India, including Ranchi, Agra, Gwalior, Roorkee, and Jabalpur. Senior Pakistan Army officers, including Lieutenant General AAK Niazi of East Pakistan’s GOC Eastern Command, were detained in Jabalpur. Apart from the officers and soldiers held in these camps, their parents, wives and children were also taken prisoner. Therefore, separate arrangements had to be made for these civilians regarding their welfare and medical needs. In fact, many children were born to Pakistani POWs during the early years of the 1972 captivity. One camp that held civilian internees reported the birth of six children in 1972.
Food, clothing and shelter
Pakistani prisoners of war were given the same rations as military personnel. During the winter, each prisoner of war was given either three blankets or one comforter and one blanket. Each POW not wearing a Pakistani Army pullover was given a woolen pullover or shirt. In some camps, sleeveless leather jackets were issued. A pair of socks was distributed to every prisoner of war. Some women refused military pullovers as inappropriate and requested shawls, which were not available.
Children held in civilian camps were given fresh fruit every day, and children between the ages of 1 and 17 were given one banana each day. 1,000 bottles of multivitamin syrup were handed over to a Pakistani doctor in charge of one of the camps who organized the distribution.
POWs who had deposited Indian currency in the camp could use it for purchases at the canteen.
freedom of religion
No religious freedom complaints were made to inspection authorities, including independent bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at any of the camps. POWs who escaped or died from disease were buried in a Muslim cemetery a short distance from the POW camp in clearly marked graves for ICRC teams to identify.
In one camp, where several prisoners were killed during an altercation with a sentry, iron bars were installed on all barracks windows, and prisoners were confined to their barracks at night. However, during Ramzan, all necessary facilities were provided for night prayers and meals.
In one of the camps, camp authorities spent 5,000 rupees to help prisoners celebrate Eid al-Adha and allocated 1 rupee for each Christian prisoner for Christmas.
Group commanders in several camps helped Shia prisoners celebrate Muharram. Quran and Bible translated into Urdu were widely available in the camp.
At Christmas, priests visited Christians and distributed feasts and special menus. Shiites gathered in one block for Muharram events. Mullahs, interviewed without witnesses, expressed satisfaction with the respect for religious activities.
Newspapers and other facilities
Many POWs initially complained that postal money orders and money orders sent from India and abroad were not being remitted. It was explained that only civilians were authorized to receive money orders. Therefore, money and money orders sent to prisoners of war were returned to the sender.
In each block, prisoners of war received one newspaper in Urdu and four in English each day. They received two copies of the Indian Illustrated Weekly once a week. Each block had a small library and most of the books were in Urdu.
The prisoners were given daily radio broadcasts, including a half-hour Pakistani news bulletin from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., an Indian news bulletin from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., and an Indian entertainment program at 8:30 p.m. I could hear it.
POW officers had personal transistors, junior officers had one transistor per barracks, and officers of other ranks had one transistor per block. On average, two films were shown to prisoners of war each month.
sports, games, musical instruments
As far as outdoor games were concerned, the prisoners practiced general gymnastics in the courtyard. Each enclosure had a volleyball field, and intercamp volleyball tournaments were held.
For indoor games, the prisoners had prepared several decks of cards, a chess board, and two carom boards for each block.
One harmonium, four tablas, one Indian drum, and ten flutes were usually available at the camp and were provided as gifts from the ICRC. These instruments were to be purchased from the local market and kept in each block for three days before being handed over.
Radio message to families in Pakistan
A team from All India Radio visited the camp to record personal family messages to be broadcast to relatives in Pakistan. On average, three sheets of correspondence paper were distributed to prisoners of war, allowing them to write letters. Some prisoners complained that letters sent to or from Pakistan took two to three months to reach their destination.
Punishment for prisoners of war
A small number of prisoners were given conditions of confinement, usually at the request of a block POW officer or a senior POW noncommissioned officer. Some POWs were fined 50% of their advance pay as a result of violating military discipline.
All camps kept disciplinary registers recording all details. All penalties were carried out in accordance with Articles 89 and 90 of the Third Geneva Convention.
The guards were given strict orders to remain calm and not to fire inside the camp in case of trouble or fights. It was noted that Pakistani jawans were frequently fighting with each other, which officers attributed to mixed forces, discontent and crowding in the barracks.
The prisoner was shot while escaping.
There were also escape attempts by prisoners of war, some of whom were successful, while others died. One Captain Rias ul Haq of the 26th Frontier Army escaped from Camp 32.
At Camp 95, there was an escape attempt by Mohd Ishaq, a member of 48 Baluch, who was detained for 15 days. He was then in a state of depression, so the camp commander sent him to the camp hospital for several days.
In October 1972, incidents occurred in two POW camps in India. The first incident was in Danna on October 3, 1972, resulting in eight deaths and numerous casualties. The second one occurred in Allahabad on October 13, in which six prisoners lost their lives.
At one camp in Uttar Pradesh state, 16 prisoners, including six officers, were being taken in sealed vans to a military hospital for routine dental and eye treatment. At the destination, two prisoners, MI Lt. Rizvi and Lt. Abdul Wahid, started running in different directions. A bodyguard and a driver chased them. Lieutenant Rizvi was captured by the driver, but freed himself and continued running. He was repeatedly challenged but continued to flee, resulting in his guards firing, which led to his death. Captain Abdul Wahid was also shot and wounded.
In another incident, a group of Uttar Pradesh prisoners attacked and overpowered a sentry and attempted to seize its firearms. They managed to obtain a rifle and fired at one of the guards, wounding him. Another group of prisoners charged toward the guard at the gate, and several others began to climb the guard tower. The lookouts on duty fired in self-defense to bring the situation under control, resulting in the deaths of six prisoners.
Medical facilities for prisoners of war
Pakistani military medical personnel were hired to run medical facilities supervised by Indian military doctors in several locations. One such hospital was Pak Army Lt. Col. M. Anwar, a pathologist. Lieutenant Colonel AR Minhas, Dental Surgeon. Lieutenant Colonel M. Akhtar, otolaryngologist. Major Magbool Shah, GDMO; MA Major Hamid Khan, EDMO. Maji Kadhim Hussein, ophthalmologist. Major HM Butt, Anesthetist. Captain MA Kiani, Surgeon. Captain KD Mirza. Captain MA Kamal, Medical Expert. Captain Ashur Khan. Lieutenant IH Bajwa. Lieutenant Colonel MS Bhatti, a dermatologist, was in charge of running medical facilities for prisoners of war.
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