M A I N   N E W S

Kin refuse to give up on missing PoW
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Chak Sarwan Nath (Ludhiana), July 22
Notwithstanding the denials of the Pakistan Government that there was any Indian prisoner of war (PoW) in their country, the relatives of Flt Lt Gurdev Singh Rai, missing in action since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, are still confident about his return one day.

Hope sustains life. The three brothers of the Indian pilot eagerly receive anyone talking of him in their house. They promptly ask, “Koyi khabar leyaye ho?”. A reply in the negative disappoints them for a while, but then hope springs back. They wish, “No problem, some day someone will bring the happy news.”

Not only the family members but the villagers also seem to be awaiting such news. The Tribune team asked an old man the way to the family’s house at the entrance of the village. While giving direction he also asked if we had brought some good news and laced his query with blessings. He was sad when he was told there was no such news.

The relatives of the officer, who had been awarded the prestigious Vir Chakra for his heroic feat in the 1971 war, with the help of the villagers, are keeping his memory alive. The gate of their house boldly displays the name of the decorated war hero. The state government had named a school in the nearby Heeran village after the name of the hero. But today only a faded board lying ignored in the school reveals it was named after him. The missing Air Force officer had studied in this school, as there was (and still is) no school in his village.

“The statement of General Musharraf that there was no PoW did disturb us,” admits Sukh Kanwar Singh, youngest brother of the missing officer. However, they soon overcame it as the Pakistan Government was used to making such statements. “They have been making such statements since 1971 but still a number of Indian spies who had returned to the country after spending several years in Pakistan jails claimed in media interviews that they had seen Flt Lt Gurdev Singh Rai in some Pakistan jail”, the family says. They show media reports quoting Mukhtiar Singh, an Indian spy.

Giving details about his valiant brother, Sukh Kanwar Singh said his brother joined the Air Force against the wishes of their parents. In fact, he did not inform the family before joining the defence forces. He even rejected several marriage offers, as he wanted to remain single. In 1965, he fought gallantly and his heroism was recognised in 1971 when he was assigned the task of destroying several strategically placed radars of the Pakistan Army.

On December 4, 1971, he commanded a fleet of Hunter planes to destroy some radars in Sakesar near Mianwali in Pakistan and inflicted a major loss to the enemy station. The next day, he again led an attack at the same place and completely destroyed the radars.

Searches yield no PoW: Pak

Islamabad, July 22
Chances of getting information about the 54 Indian Prisoners of War (PoW) languishing in Pakistani jails are slimming as the massive combing operation launched in the country’s prisons is yet to produce results.

“We don’t have any such prisoners in our jails,’’ officials in the Pakistan Interior Ministry said. The combing operation does not seem to have paid off as the authorities are yet to receive any information regarding the presence of Indian PoWs.

While relatives of the PoWs say they have been held in Attock Fort and Kot Lakhait jails near Lahore, officials deny these claims.

They have asked the Indian Government to provide clues about these PoWs.

The recent searches had put the number of Indian prisoners at 155, but none of them was a PoW, the officials added. UNI