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India's 'Missing 54'

Yithian

Parish Watch
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We are in the realm of parapolitics, not the supernatural, but this remains an intriguing case that has just bubbled up into the media again. I generally credit explanations that err on the side of 'cock-up' over conspiracy--and successive Indian governments' handling of the matter certainly meet the title of the former--but these men never came home, so something (or a number of different somethings) happened to them. Even if it was an administrative error (very common in wartime) and it suited the Indian government to have people believe that the evil Pakistani's were cruelly keeping brave men from their families, what are we to do with the claims from returning POWs that some were alive and in captivity post-hostilities?

Obviously, the sad thread of the family's hopes and the rise of murky tales mirrors (prefigures) those of the U.S. families of men lost and captured in S.E. Asia.

They are called "the missing 54" - Indian soldiers forgotten in the fog of past wars with Pakistan, and who appear to have slipped through the cracks of the rival neighbours' troubled history.
India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over territory in the disputed region of Kashmir - in 1947-48 and in 1965. Then, in 1971, Pakistan lost a 13-day war to India, resulting in its eastern half - separated from the rest of the country by more than 1,600km (990 miles) of India - emerging as the sovereign nation of Bangladesh.
India believes the 54 soldiers went missing in action and are held in Pakistani prisons. But more than four decades after they disappeared, there's no clarity over their numbers and fate.
Last July, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government told parliament there were 83 Indian soldiers, including the "missing 54", in Pakistan's custody. The rest are possibly soldiers who "strayed across the border" or were captured for alleged espionage. Pakistan has consistently denied holding any Indian prisoners of war.

Full Article
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-51191199
 
Yith:

You mentioned the Missing 54 topic had "bubbled up in the media again." Is there any clear evidence as to when it re-surfaced? Was it dormant in the popular mind until Modi's comments last July?

I'm curious whether it surfaced earlier (as an excuse for recent hard line / nationalistic moves India has made concerning Kashmir) versus later (to add weight to an already emerging Kashmir initiative).

Are there similarly unresolved Pakistani MIA cases left over from the 1971 war? If so, have Pakistanis made similar POW claims against India?
 
Yith:

You mentioned the Missing 54 topic had "bubbled up in the media again." Is there any clear evidence as to when it re-surfaced? Was it dormant in the popular mind until Modi's comments last July?

I'm curious whether it surfaced earlier (as an excuse for recent hard line / nationalistic moves India has made concerning Kashmir) versus later (to add weight to an already emerging Kashmir initiative).

Are there similarly unresolved Pakistani MIA cases left over from the 1971 war? If so, have Pakistanis made similar POW claims against India?

As you say, Modi's comments last July refreshed memories, but the latest resurfacing is because Chander Suta Dogra is promoting a book devoted to the subject:

images_1579681749978_missing_in_action.jpg


The previews reveal some details.

Example:
https://theprint.in/defence/india-l...gave-up-on-them-as-sacrifice-new-book/351872/
 
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