ThePakistani prisoners of war in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 were the servicemen deployed in theEastern Command of thePakistan armed forces who were held in by theIndian Army.[1]
Pakistan'sYahya administration conveyed their intentions to retreat from theireastern wing to the United Nations on 10 December 1971,[2] and aformal surrender was submitted and accepted when theCommander of Eastern Command and Governor of East Pakistan, Lieutenant-GeneralA. A. K. Niazi, signed aninstrument of surrender with his counterpart, Lieutenant GeneralJagjit Singh Aurora,GOC-in-C ofEastern Command, on16 December 1971.: 136 [3]
The surrender ultimately culminated in the conclusion ofliberation efforts in East Pakistan as India accepts the unilateral ceasefire to end itswar efforts in the western theatre on 17 December 1971.: 136 [3] The surrender was the largest surrender since theend of World War II,: 17 [4][5][6] with the Indian Army taking approximately 93,000 Pakistani service personnel and allied militiamen aswar prisoners in East Pakistan.: 513 [7][8][6]
Due to the concern of their safety and wellbeing, the war prisoners were transported viatrain andair, where they were held in thewar camps by theIndian Army indifferent parts of India.[9] The issue of transfer and transportation of war prisoners to India was very controversial betweenIndia and Bangladesh since theProvisional Government of Bangladesh had shown strong resistance and opposition to such an act to India as they wanted to bring charges on the war prisoners on thecrimes against humanity in theirspecial courts established inDhaka.[1]
The overwhelming majority of war prisoners were officers; most of them were in theArmy andNavy, while a relatively small number ofAir Force andMarines; others in larger number had served in paramilitary forces.[1] India treated the war prisoners in accordance to theGeneva Convention, ruled 1925, but used this issue as a tool to coerce Pakistan intorecognizing the sovereignty ofBangladesh after three countriesreached compromised in 1974.: 78 [10][2] The issue of war prisoners contributed to quick recognition of Bangladesh, but it also had effects on India securing itseastern front from Pakistan-controlled hostile state,East-Pakistan, to India supportedBangladesh.: 314 [11]
According to Pakistani observers and commentators, India, by taking and managing the ~93,000 war prisoners inIndian Army-run camps, had gained itself abargaining chip to remove its security threat faced by its eastern front by recognizing the sovereignty of the country, Bangladesh, they had intervened to help.[12] However, according to Indian author, M. Ragostra, the war prisoners were actually more of a liability than leverage since it became India'sresponsibility to protect and feed the prisoners that were in great numbers.[9]
After conceding defeat and accession of theinstrument of surrender in 1971, theIndian Army took theresponsibility to protect Pakistan's joint servicemen inEast-Pakistan.: 211 [13] During the early phases of the surrender,Lieutenant-GeneralJagjit Singh Aurora allowed the Pakistani servicementheir right to bear small arms for their protection against the insurgents ofMukti Bahini who were seeking their revenge on Pakistani servicemen.: 211 [13]
In December 1971, theProvisional Government of Bangladesh had shown their intention to India regarding the war prisoners, creating controversy betweenIndia and Bangladesh, as Bangladeshis wanted to hold the cases on the Pakistani servicemen who would be charged with thecrimes against humanity in theirspecial courts, and strongly opposed the Indian Army's plan for transferring war prisoners.[1] Members of the Bangladesh government and public spoke specifically of prosecuting 194Pakistan Army,Air Force andNavy officers forwar crimes. From 1971 till 1972, theIndian Army quickly transferred the war prisoners to their specialwar camps in different parts of India throughtrain andair transportation, mainly due to prisoners safety and wellbeing.: 211 [13][9]
The military commanders of the Eastern Command of the Pakistani military were held inFort William inCalcutta, and were transferred byAir India's commercial plane.: 212 [13] Later, the commanders were held inJabalpur Cantonment.[14] In 1973, the majority of the war prisoners were then shifted toRed Fort andGwalior Fort in New Delhi.: 213–214 [13]
TheIndian government treated all the war prisoners in strict accordance with theGeneva Convention, ruled in 1925.[1] These 93,000 war prisoners were slowly released by India who were repatriated at theZero Point,Wagah, and theLine of Control (LoC).: 214 [13] India took approximately 93,000 prisoners of war that included Pakistani soldiers as well as some of their East Pakistani collaborators. 79,676 of these prisoners were uniformed personnel, of which 55,692 were Army, 16,354 Paramilitary, 5,296 Police, 1000 Navy and 800 PAF. The remaining 13,324 prisoners were civilians - either family members of the military personnel or Bihari Razarkars.
Before the war prisoners were repatriated, Pakistan and India had to sign theSimla Agreement in 1972, but it was not until 1974 when theDelhi Agreement was signed that marked the repatriation.[1] The Simla Agreement treaty ensured that Pakistan recognized theindependence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani POWs.[15]
Since 1978, some Indian government officials have claimed that about 54 Indian soldiers of theIndian Armed Forces wentmissing in action during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971 and that they are secretly held by Pakistan. Pakistan denies the existence of such prisoners of war.[16][17]
The foreign reaction to India's taking of these 90,000 POWs varied from nation to nation. The United Nations supported India's move as they condemned the human rights violations the Pakistani Armed Forces inflicted upon Bangladeshis. As a result, the U.N. was quick to accept Bangladesh's independence. Bhutan became the second country after India to recognize Bangladesh's independence, and did so with no issues.
The United States, however, was an ally of Pakistan both materially and politically, and as a result, they did not support India's taking of 90,000 Pakistani POWs. The U.S. saw India's actions as threatening, especially since India had just become a nuclear power and maintained close military ties with the U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union supported both the armies of Bangladesh and India and thus supported Bangladesh's unwaveringly. As a result of Soviet support, all nations that were part of the Warsaw Pact also recognized Bangladesh's independence.[18] Soviet backing ensured that the states in the U.S.S.R.'s sphere of influence, including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, all recognized Bangladesh's independence. China, despite being a communist nation, was also an ally of Pakistan and did not support the measures India took to have Bangladeshi sovereignty recognized. China even went as far as vetoing Bangladesh's application to become a member of the United Nations and was one of the last nations in the world to recognize Bangladeshi independence, not doing so until 31 August 1975.[19]
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