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Supriyo Sen’s Hope Dies Last in
War, which won the Best Documentary Award at the 55th National
Film Awards, is the story of individual and collective struggle of
relatives of missing defence personnel, spanning three generations, to
get their men back, writes Shoma A. Chatterji
More than 92,000 Pakistani soldiers were
taken prisoners by India in the western sector while nearly 500 Indian
defence personnel were captured by Pakistan during the 14-day
India-Pakistan war that began on December 3, 1971. Following the
Shimla agreement (1972) between Z.A. Bhutto and Indira Gandhi,
prisoners of war (PoWs) were exchanged. Over 200 Indian soldiers
were repatriated from Pakistan. The last train expected to bring the
last lot of Indian soldiers from Pakistan did not arrive. While
Pakistan claimed that there were no more PoWs left in Pakistani jails,
the Indian Government advised the families to presume that the missing
soldiers were dead and to accept monetary compensation in lieu of the
missing persons. What happened to these 54 soldiers? Are they alive,
dead, sick, injured or missing? No one knows. But some families have
refused to accept the government’s version. Their lives have zeroed
in on an infinite truth-finding mission to discover what happened to
their near and dear ones. Some parents died waiting in vain, some
children lost the last ray of hope bending under the pressure of
bureaucratic and administrative non-cooperation, some wives remarried,
while a few committed suicide. Supriyo Sen’s documentary Hope
Dies Last in War is a tribute to the tremendous zeal and
determination of the few that did not give up. Their lives are a
perennial struggle between hope and despair. Their crusade is for the
restitution of basic human right — the right to live and die in
one’s own country, the right to come home, the right to a national
identity. The fight has been on for nearly four decades. Hope
Dies Last in War is a saga of their individual and collective
struggle, spanning three generations, to get their men back. It
records a tragic stalemate, sufferings of love and shining moments of
humanity, courage and hope. BBC journalist Victoria Schofield
mentioned around 40 prisoners in her book. Evidences keep trickling in
every day. "Most of us have heard the names of the missing
soldiers announced in the Pakistani radio as ‘captured alive.’ We
are convinced that they are alive because stories of their being alive
keep pouring in from different sources," says brother of a
missing soldier. "One soldier, who managed to smuggle a letter
to his family, reported that 20 of his compatriots were languishing in
the same cell. The Time magazine published photographs of two
other soldiers," says a daughter, one of three sisters. A major
part of their lives is dedicated to this search. The painstaking
research that went into the making of this film is evident. It covers
field research, documentary research, first-person interviews,
travelling back and forth with active members of the "Missing
Defence Personnel Relatives Association." It widens the canvas
from a simple wait-and-search saga to a tragedy that neither
government has tried to mend even with their infrastructure and the
power. Photographic albums are brought out and lovingly caressed by a
doddering old mother who has not seen her son for 37 years, her voice
choking over her words as the young man’s father sits back, resigned
to their tragedy. Damayanti Tambay is an icon symbolising the
struggle of the families to uncover the truth behind their missing
member. Damayanti spent one year with husband, Lt.V.V. Tambay. "We
drove together towards the Ambala Cantonment on December 5, 1971. He
took off for the last time. I never saw or heard of him after
that," she adds, her eyes brightening with memories of a love she
cherishes till this day. Her national badminton championship is now
forgotten. She has lived the life of a single woman. When Sen asked
her how she could wait so long, she said, "It is the
unconditional love for the person that drove me to walk this endless
journey. As long as love is there, hope is there and hope dies last in
the war." Sen was with her on the ride to Ambala Cantonment on
December 5, 2004. "That was the moment I realised that I have to
tell this love story to the world, love that survived through and
after the war." That gave Sen the title for his film. Damayanti
refuses to accept claims that her husband’s plane was shot down and
fell into the sea almost as soon as it took off. The camera closes in
on medals and certificates adorning the walls of some of these homes.
Damayanti takes Sen to the hangar where defence planes are still kept.
The torturing wait at the Wagah border for the prisoners to return
home reveals one returnee who lost his mind during his internment. No
one knows who he is. The others keep waiting, in vain, but with
hope. Hope Dies Last in War has won the Best Documentary film
Award at the 55th National Film Awards for 2007. The film
was chosen "for its sensitive albeit searching exploration of
those in prisons in alien countries; a complex polyphony of variegated
voices, the film is an endeavour to find hope in the midst of a
struggle against despair." Saikat Ray, who edited it, won the
National Award for best editing in the documentary and short-film
section. The citation commends his work "for its creative
blending of various elements of the past and present, as also for its
seamless flow of images that evoke genuine emotions." It was
first screened in public in 2007. Ranjan Palit bagged the IDPA (Indian
documentary Producer’s Association) gold award for his
cinematography. "It is a tragic story of Human Rights violation
based on the testimonies of parents, wives, siblings, children and
grandchildren. The film is about their pain, helplessness, dejection,
reconciliation, hope and dreams in war-hungry Indian
sub-continent," Sen sums up. In February, this year, Sen’s Wagah,
a 12-minute documentary, bagged the Berlin Today 2009 Award.
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