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10 protesters held outside Musharraf's hotel

Sharat Pradhan in Agra

Police detained ten persons in Agra after they staged a protest outside the hotel in which President Pervez Musharraf was staying, seeking the release of 54 Indian soldiers allegedly held in Pakistan since the 1971 war.

The protestors were taken to a police station when they arrived at the Amar Vilas Hotel carrying placards in English reading: 'Release the Indian defence prisoners.'

They included Vipul Purohit, the 30-year-old son of Flight Lieutenant Manohar Purohit who is among the 54 who went missing during the last war with Pakistan.

The others in the protest were human rights activists, Purohit told IANS.

His mother, Suman Purohit, 53, said on Monday that she would be grateful if General Musharraf kept his promise and investigated the case of the missing Indian soldiers who their families believe are imprisoned in Pakistan.

Islamabad has repeatedly denied holding them. General Musharraf told a group of Indian editors over breakfast that he had promised Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he would personally take up the matter when he returns to Pakistan.

"We would be really grateful to the general if he really means what he has said," the housewife said.

"But we are sceptical. We hope he remembers his commitment and actually identifies the 54 Indian defence prisoners languishing in Pakistan."

She added that while she also appreciated Vajpayee's concern, "we will not be really impressed until something concrete is done. We have been bitten more than once. So unless something really comes up, merely taking up the issue means nothing."

She went on: "Ten years back six families like mine were taken to Pakistan for what was stated to be an identification exercise in Pakistan jails. We were told the Pakistani authorities would show us some 300 prisoners for us to identify if they included our family members. But eventually only 150 were shown and the exercise proved futile."

Purohit, whose son Vipul was a toddler when Flt Lt Purohit's aircraft crashed in Pakistan, said, "Similar initiatives were taken in the past after the Lahore accord. But as far as we were concerned, we ended up reaching nowhere."

"We would also like to urge the prime minister to ensure that the step initiated by him does not get lost in the diplomatic maze."

The issue of the missing Indian soldiers has been raised in Parliament 12 times. But Pakistan has repeatedly denied holding any. The families of the missing men, who have formed a Missing Defence Personnel's Relatives Association, had earlier said they considered the Agra summit their last hope to be reunited with their missing sons.

Noted Pakistani human rights campaigner Asma Jehangir, in Agra to observe the summit, said the Indian families had got in touch with her, but she was not happy with the manner in which both Islamabad and New Delhi had dealt with them.

"They were told they could visit any jail they wanted to," she said. "That is not the correct way. We are in touch with the National Human Rights Commission [in India] on this issue."

She said when the families of the Indian soldiers got in touch with her, rights activists visited some jails in Pakistan, but could not trace the men. She added that they might be held outside elsewhere.

"At the same time there are supposed to be four Pakistani soldiers in Indian prisons, and their families are eager to locate them too. They too need all our help and sympathy."

Indo-Asian News Service

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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