KARACHI: Five hundred and seventy prisoners of the recent war in Hyderabad (Dn), interned at the Dhond Concentration Camp by the Indian Army of Occupation, were repatriated to Pakistan on Wednesday [Aug 10]. The prisoners were members of the disbanded Hyderabad State Army and were recruited from the NWFP, West Punjab and Baluchistan before the partition. They came to Karachi by S.S. Bhadravati escorted by a company of about 100 Indian troops on Wednesday morning… .

… The prisoners, who were in a battered condition, said that they were ashamed to go to their homes in this condition. Most of them had their limbs amputated. Some had ugly scars on their faces while others showed burnt skin. These, they said, were the results of the “third degree methods” employed by their captors… . Some of [them] had also been tortured “just for the fun of it”. “You have already heard the tale of horrors wrought by the Indian Army on the Hyderabadi Muslims in general. We too had to take our share,” a prisoner stated. The Indian soldiers were not allowed to land as they did not have the necessary permits… .

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2024