An Unforgettable Journey

The Dawn/Magazine

March 26, 2006

By Syed Abrar Hussaini

The Pakistani citizens who were taken to POW camps after the 1971 war had many an untold tale to tell. But who would lend an attentive ear to them? The Dhaka fall is remembered as one of the tragic events in the history of our country. In this regard, I have some personal experiences to share with the readers.

Immediately after the surrender of Pakistani forces, we, the West Pakistanis, shifted from our residences to the Dacca Cantonment for repatriation to Pakistan. The Indian Army was in control and on Jan 19, 1972, we were taken by train to Narayanganj, where we boarded a barge which was already over-crowded by civilian non-Bengalis — mostly West Pakistanis. I think it was after a night and a whole day’s journey that we reached the Khulna port. All of us were herded into a vacant jute go-down. Freshly cooked food consisting of rice and lentils was served to all of us.

On Jan 23 we boarded another train, consisting of about 10 or 12 bogies, all having sealed windows. The train with 2,000 passengers on board left Khulna and entered the Indian territory near Jessore. When we entered India, we were instructed to remove the wooden planks from the windows. We crossed Indian Bengal, Calcutta being its major city. The train stopped at a few big stations and we were allowed to get off and fill our water bottles from fresh water taps. None of us had anticipated a long rail journey and as such very few families, mostly having small children, carried along leftover food from the Khulna port.

We passed by Bareli, Allahabad, Lucknow and many other major cities. Our journey continued for two nights and one whole day. At dawn the train stopped at a sidetrack of a very brightly lit area. It was shivering cold and it seemed that we had stopped at a city with hundreds of tube-lights and mercury bulbs. Actually it was a newly built POW camp in the Roorkee Cantonment comprising 10 to 12 barracks. All of us were ordered to get off the train and step into the trucks parked nearby. The trucks then took us into the POW camp. The barracks were surrounded by barbed wires with lots of open spaces in between and had one main gate guarded by armed soldiers. There were four enclosures consisting of three barracks each. These were POW camp no. 33 and camp no. 34. There were a few barracks for Indian soldiers outside the barbed fenced area guarding the entire POW camp as well as the ration depot and a medical centre for treating minor ailments. Two high watch-towers manned by armed guards stood at the opposite far end. As we entered cage 1 of the POW camp no. 33, everyone could smell foul play, because never at the time of our departure from our homes in Dhaka or in Khulna, nor while boarding the train to India, had we been told or informed by Indian army officials that we were being taken to India. Now we were told that since the Pakistani government was unwilling to accept us and until the matter was sorted out, we were being kept here as CUPCs (civilians under protective custody).

We moved into the barracks along with our baggage. Each barrack had three rooms and about 50 of us squeezed into one room. There were no charpoys and all of us had to sleep on the floor. The Indian Army provided blankets to each family and this was quite a blessing as in the month of January the weather was very cold and dry. At night, families used to tie up ropes and hang around sheets making temporary partitions for the sake of privacy. The washrooms and bathrooms were at the end of each barrack and there were about six toilets and two partitions for having a bath or washing clothes.

There were large kitchens and stores for food items. Coal, stone-coal, was used for cooking. We were told that we should cook our own food in these kitchens and bring our daily ration from the quartermaster’s depot. Teams comprising young men were formed for bringing the daily ration. Those who could cook food offered their services for kitchen requirements of our group of about 400 people lodged in two barracks. The daily ration consisted of flour, rice, pulses, vegetables, onions, and garlic. For the children under five years of age, fresh milk twice a day was provided. Each team of eight or nine members would be allowed to walk up to the quartermaster’s depot, escorted by two Indian soldiers with bayonets fitted to their rifles. For breakfast and morning and evening tea, bags of sugar, fresh milk and tea were issued daily. The breakfast team of four young boys usually started their job after midnight and prepared one triangle-shaped puri and tea and we were served breakfast at about 7am or 8am every day. Each room had a person nominated to bring breakfast from the kitchen.

Similarly lunch and dinner would be brought from the kitchen and distributed to all. In a separate barrack of our camp, Pakistan Army POWs and their families were lodged. Three or four officers of the army medical corps along with a couple of male nursing attendants were escorted by Indian soldiers to the medical centre where there would be one or two Indian doctors and a few other paramedical staff. Immediately after arriving in the camp, we were asked to prepare various statistical data, such as, age-wise groups of all inmates of the camp. We also maintained a list of expecting mothers and their due delivery dates. I and another young fellow were in charge of our personnel department.

For daily visits to the medical centre, names were enlisted by medical in charge who maintained a register for such visits. Armed escorts would lead us to the medical centre. In charge of the main gate would count out patients and hand them over to the escorts who had to sign a register acknowledging the number of visitors. Patients with serious illnesses or those who needed further advanced treatment would be sent on a guarded ambulance to the CMH in the city, about 10kms away. Normally for delivery cases or any other case requiring hospitalization, the patient would be admitted to the CMH in a separate room, heavily guarded by army soldiers. During my stay of 22 months there were about 10 new born babies in the camp.

At 8am each morning, the Indian camp in charge, usually a non-commissioned officer, entered the camp to mark attendance. All male members would line up in a large open space for the purpose. Then he would enter the rooms along with our room in charge and count out women and children.

After a week of our arrival, we were issued cash coupons, Rs10 per head, for purchasing soap, razors, hair oil or cigarettes from the army canteen outside our POW camp. Male members spent the day cleaning pavements, gathering pebbles from the open ground and cleaning windows and doors of their rooms, whereas women would be busy washing clothes or gossiping. When Pakistan won the hockey world cup in 1972, or 1973, we were punished for the Pakistan’s victory. We had to remove all of our belongings into the verandah and wash and scrub the whole room. This took three to four hours and women and children kept sitting in the verandah. Also, we had a surprise attendance check up at midnight. All were asked to wake up and male members were lined in the open and counted out. Even on August 14 we suffered the same punishment and all the rooms were emptied and scrubbed.

After a year, the Indians arranged for the screening of movies in the camp. Films like Mughal-i-Azam, Pakeeza, Palkee, Merey Mehboob, Choundween Ka Chand and a few others were screened. The International Red Cross agency had arranged meat on two occasions during our one year and 10 months’ stay which was cooked with delight in our kitchen. Then we were issued aerograms for writing letters to our relatives in Pakistan and India. The return mail from Pakistan also poured in which somewhat consoled us. Parcels of clothes and other items also reached us through the International Red Cross.

We would pray five times a day. We had marked a clean place as our mosque. During the holy month of Ramazan we would arrange the taraweeh on a regular basis. A few miles away from the POW camp there were few villages having Muslim population. Early in the morning they used to beat drums and blow bugles just to wake us up for the sehri. Many of the faithfuls fasted in the camp and the sehri and iftar would be arranged by our kitchen in charge. On the first Eid in the camp all of us felt very gloomy, lonely and miserable, having no clue to our fate. In the month of Muharram, Shia members were allowed to take out their religious procession on the roads within the camp, though heavily guarded by the soldiers. Sometimes there would be rumours that since the Pakistani government was not interested in getting us back, all male members, excluding family heads, were being transferred to another camp in India, or that they were being sent back to Bangladesh where they would be slaughtered by the Mukti Bahini. Even after receiving the news of our going back to Pakistan, many could not believe it.

The return journey to Pakistan on October 28, 1973 was a pleasant one as compared to our journey from Dhaka. Each bogey of the train had two or three Indian soldiers. After a few hours, we reached Attari and from there via the Wagah check post we landed in our dear homeland, Pakistan.