Gen. Manoj Pande, the head of the Indian Army, said on Wednesday that the way Pakistani war prisoners were treated after the 1971 war was so good that they wished their officers were as good as their Indian counterparts at making sure the troops were safe. He said this to honor the work of the legendary officer Lt. Gen. PS Bhagat.
“After the 1971 Indo-Pak War, 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war were to be kept in camps under central leadership, which was led by Lt. Gen. Bhagat. Gen. Pande said at a memorial talk that they had to build shelters and provide amenities quickly, set up the logistics, and make sure security and coordination were in place.
In the real spirit of the Geneva Convention, he said, Lt. Gen. Bhagat made sure that the POWs got everything they were entitled to, like canteen stores, postal services, and medical care.
He said that in some cases, Lt. Gen. Bhagat even told his own troops to move out of a room so that the prisoners of war could stay there.
“It wasn’t surprising, then, that Pakistani POWs had nothing but good things to say about how they were treated in India. They often said they wished their officers took care of their troops like Indian officers do,” Gen. Pande said.
After losing the 1971 war badly, India took 90,000 Pakistan Army soldiers as prisoners when they turned themselves in.
Bangladesh, which used to be called East Pakistan, was made when the Pakistan Army was defeated.
Lt. Gen. Niazi was the highest-ranking general to surrender. He had been a prisoner of war in India for many months, where he and other prisoners were well cared for by the country.
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