Forgotten 54: The Mystery Of 54 Soldiers Who Went Missing During The 1971 India-Pakistan War

Nobody wants war, but sometimes it is the need of the time. The war-like situation, the panic, the mock drills that was carried out yesterday across nation, is not something anyone hopes for. However, when time demands it, everyone must comply, like people did more than five-decades ago in 1971. It was the time when India and Pakistan was at war over the Bangladesh Liberation Movement. While India came out victorious and Bangladesh as a separate nation, our nation lost our heroes.

They are known as the "Missing 54" or the "Forgotten 54". These were Indian soldiers who were seemingly vanished into the void of wartime chaos. Their fates are still unknown, and their names are whispered in hushed tones among the families who never stopped hoping for their return.

These men are believed to have gone missing during the wars India fought with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. While these battles ended with border being redrawn, the war truly never ended for their families. These soldiers were repeatedly taken as prisoners of wars (PoWs), yet Pakistan has persistently denied their holdings. Whereas for India, the nation still maintains that these man are - or were - alive for years after the war.

The wars of 1947-48, 1965, and 1971 that birthed Bangladesh, all of them altered geopolitics. The 1971 war was short but decisive. On December 16 of the same year, Pakistan signed an unconditional surrender and over 90,000, as SM Burke also notes in Mainsprings of Indian and Pakistani Foreign Policies, were sent back to Pakistan. However, the 54 Indian soldiers never returned.

Also Read: First Mock Drill Since 1971 War: Witnesses of India-Pakistan War Recount Memories of That Time

In July 2019, the Narendra Modi government, as BBC reports, told parliament that there were 83 Indian soldiers, among which were the "missing 54", who were still in Pakistan's custody. Some may have strayed across the border or been picked up on charges of espionage. But clarity — or accountability — remains elusive.

Journalist Chander Suta Dogra has spend many years following this trail of silence. Her book Missing in Action: The Prisoners Who Never Came Back provides a meticulously researched investigation based on military files, declassified documents, personal letters, and interviews with the families.

Were these men killed in action, or captured and used as bargaining chips? Were some spies, as Pakistan has hinted? Were they tortured in violation of the Geneva Convention, rendering it politically inconvenient to return them? Why did the Indian government file affidavits in the 1990s declaring 15 of the 54 as “confirmed killed”, only to later maintain they are missing?

Ms Dogra, as reported by BBC, shared that case of a wireless operator declared dead in 1966 was chilling. Years later, three repatriated Indian PoWs told his family he was alive and imprisoned in Pakistan. Despite the testimonies, nothing changed.

Two delegations of family members even visited Pakistani jails — once in 1983 and again in 2007 — carrying photographs and prisoner details. They came back with allegations that Pakistan had blocked access to the prisoners, a claim Pakistan denied. “There is strong evidence of them being alive,” one relative said in 2007.

These men are not just names on a list. They had lives — and left behind families frozen in grief and uncertainty. One such name is Wing Commander Hersern "High Speed" Gill, a decorated Air Force pilot whose aircraft was shot down over Sindh in 1971. His family waited. His wife died of cancer. His son, overwhelmed by the long shadow of absence, died by suicide. His daughter’s whereabouts are unknown. His brother, Gurbir Singh Gill, told the BBC: “Frankly, I have not given up hope yet. In the absence of the truth, you keep hoping.”

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