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Families await those lost in Pak
Published on Mon, Jan 15, 2007 at 08:15, Updated on Sun, Jun 17, 2007 at 12:17 in 
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Jammu: “We always believed he was alive,” says Nirmal Kaur whose husband Subedar Assa Singh was one amongst the many soldiers who were taken as prisoners of war by Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
After 36-years, General Musharraf's reported invitation to the families who still believe that their loved ones are alive in Pakistani prisons has brought hopes.
Out of the 54 prisoners of war believed to be alive in Pakistani jails, six belong to Jammu.
“We will definitely go to Pakistan to bring him back. General Musharraf has said that the prisoners of war will be released. We are looking for them to give us specific information,” she says.
65-year-old Nirmal kept her husband’s uniform with badges of valour neatly wrapped for the past 36 years. She single-handedly brought up her seven children after Assa Singh went missing. Her daughter Ravinder, the youngest of all, was barely five months old when his father went to the war. An Indian prisoner released from Pakistan recently told the family that Assa Singh is alive. Since then, the family has swayed between hope and despair.
“I have heard my father was brave and loving. We have seen him in pictures only. It was my fate that I did not see him. I will thank both India and Pakistan if he is released, if he comes back. That will be the best day for my life,” says Ravinder.
The families of the many prisoners of war are now pinning their hopes on Gen Musharraf's promise that they will be given access to their loved ones lost in the pages of history.
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I weep today on my nation's apathy on its brave soldiers. Neither Army, Govt, political parties, media or general public
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