Mohammad Altaf Khan, 46, often tries to imagine what his father looks like now.

His father, who was in the army, left home for duty at the Chumb-Jorian Sector during the 1971 war and never came back.

Altaf was just four years old at that time.

After the war, Sepoy Mohammad Hussain, son of Kalu, with belt number 2774427, Regiment 2 A.K. did not report to his unit. As a result, he was declared a martyr.

Altaf Khan, a resident of village Ratnoi in the Bagh district of AJK, told Dawn that his mother was told by his father’s unit after the war that her husband had died during combat. However, the family never received the body.

The devastated family nonetheless came to terms with their loss. The young widow focused all her energies on raising her children while Altaf’s grandfather took on the financial responsibility for providing for the family.

The unit also approved pension for the family which Hussain’s wife received till her death in 1997.

“I was also given a pension of Rs89 till the age of 18 whereas my younger sister got Rs36 till her marriage,” Altaf added.

But four decades after the fall of Dhaka, Altaf received a letter from the A.K. Centre’s record wing based at Manser Camp in Attock.

The letter was received on November 14, 2011, just about a month before the 40th anniversary of the fall of Dhaka on December 16.

The letter states that Sep Mohammad Hussain went missing during the war of 1971 and that the army believes that he could be in India as a prisoner of war. The letter said Hussain did not come back to his home country during the return of the prisoners.The letter asked the family to inform the authorities concerned in case they received any kind of information regarding Hussain.

Though he replied to explain that he and the rest of his family had never heard from their father, the letter turned Altaf’s world upside down. After all these years, he now wants to believe that his father is still alive but is also scared of raising his hopes.

He and his sister have spent hours and days discussing that letter that arrived nearly two years ago.

“These 22 months have been much heavier for us than the last 40 years,” he added.

Contradictory feelings envelope him and are visible on his face as he narrates the story – “I find it hard to believe that he is alive in an Indian jail but even if there is a small chance that he is, I want to meet him.”

He adds that “It is my last wish to meet my father and I have decided to go on Haj to pray that my wish is fulfilled.”

Forty-four-year-old Shamim Akhter, Altaf’s sister, also dreams on.

“Is it possible that my father would come back home one day,” she asks.

Altaf and his sister are not the only ones who still do not know for sure what the 1971 Indo-Pak war brought for their loved ones.

At the end of the 1971 war, New Delhi and Islamabad signed the Simla Agreement under which India released around 90,000 soldiers that had been taken as prisoners of war. However, to date, there have been reports that India continues to hold some prisoners of war who were not released.

The families of those soldiers who remain unaccounted for since the war also believe that their relatives are in Indian custody. However, there has been no official acknowledgement of such ‘prisoners’.

Defence analyst Maj-Gen (retired) Jamshed Ayaz Khan told Dawn that 90,368 members of the Pakistan armed forces, including paramilitary and civilian personnel, were taken prisoners of war during the 1971 war.

Khan said after the Simla Agreement on July 2, 1972, thousands of POWs were repatriated to Pakistan but there could be a possibility that some of the POWs are still in the Indian jails.

In reply to a question, he said under the Geneva Convention it was the responsibility of the Indian government to provide complete details about the POWs.

“If POWs of the 1971 war are still being held in India, it is contrary to all norms of humanity as well in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention,” he added.

It is important to note that there are missing Indian military men also that are believed by their families to be in Pakistani custody. However, Pakistan also denied holding them.

Take the family of another AJK-based military person - Lance Naik Ali Afsar Khan, son of Alam Sher Khan of the 13 Engineering Battalion Rawalpindi (belt number 13029580) – which has received a similar letter from the army.

Afsar Khan also did not return after the war of 1971.

A resident of village Khawaja in the district of Bagh, Mohammad Bashir Khan, 61, the younger brother of Afsar Khan, told Dawn that his brother was stationed at Khulna, Bangladesh, during the war of 1971.

Bashir said two years after the war, his father was informed by the army that Afsar Khan lost his life during the war. However, the family never received his body.

The army unit approved pension for the widow and the three-year-old son of Afsar Khan. “After eight years, my parents asked my younger brother Mohammad Rasheed Khan to marry the widow of Afsar Khan,” he added.

Bashir said that after he received the letter in August 2011, he told his brother’s unit that they did not have any information about him.

He said he was in contact with the unit of his brother for the last two years but did not get any response. “I continue to miss my brother and pray that I can see him before my death,” he added.

Bashir, who also served in the Pakistan Navy, for 43 years, said the letter from the army had given him new hope. “The hope of your loved one being alive always lurks deep inside.”

Dr Mohammad Anwar, 45, the son of Afsar Khan is working at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh. He too says that the letter gave him hope “that I will see my father during my lifetime.”

A third such family is that of Sepoy Mohammad Khalil Baig of 12 A.K. Regiment that too got a letter in 2011.

Sep Baig also went missing during the war.

A resident of village Kotri Najam Khan in the Bagh district, Sardar Bagh Hussain, 71, the elder brother of Baig, told Dawn that during the war his brother was performing duty in Bangladesh.

After the war, his parents were informed by his brother’s unit that Baig had been killed during combat but 40 years later now the army thinks that he could be alive and in an Indian jail.

These families are now counting on the mercy of the government of India to release their loved ones - if they are alive and in Indian custody.

“We appeal to the prime ministers of India and Pakistan to resolve this issue on a priority basis. As long as this remains unresolved, the relatives of the missing soldiers will continue suffering from the unceasing pain,” said Baig’s elder brother.

A military official of the 13 Engineering Battalion told Dawn that 38 personnel from his unit were still missing since the war of 1971.

He said these army personnel belonged to the Engineering Battalion of Risalpur. “The army believes that these soldiers are in the Indian jails while the Indian government has failed to respond to repeated requests about the status of the prisoners of war,” he said.

When contacted, Brigadier Attiqur Rehman of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said he would check with the relevant quarters of the army about the missing warriors of the 1971 war. However, Dawn did not receive any response from the ISPR even after a month.

But the official silence has not dampened the hopes of those who continue to hold a vigil for their missing relatives.

Afsar Khan’s and Baig’s brothers believe that even after 42 years they will easily recognise their brothers when they meet them.

Will these families ever get closure?