The writer is an author.
CERTAIN events in a nation’s history (however traumatic) need to be retrieved from the cupboard of memory. One such occasion occurred 50 years ago, when, following the surrender at Dhaka on Dec 16, 1971, 93,000 Pakistanis were herded into trains and transported across India to over a dozen jails and 50 detention camps.
It took Indian Railways three weeks to carry 79,676 Pakistani combatants deemed Prisoners of War and 13,324 non-combatant Civilians under Protective Custody to their destinations. The International Red Cross knew the difference. Treatment of the POWs was governed by the Geneva Convention; the CUPCs were left to the mercy of Mrs Indira Gandhi.