New Delhi: As the entire nation salutes the courage of daredevil Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, his return from Pakistan is celebrated as nothing less than a festival. Hours after Pakistan announced its decision to release the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, the country is on its toes to welcome the braveheart. Pakistan has stated that it will take a call on what convention will apply to Abhinandan and whether he will be given the status of Prisoner of War (POW) or not. While the debate over POW status to Abhinandan remains unclear, many other Indian soldiers, officers and IAF pilots continue to be held as prisoners in Pakistan. Reports suggest that since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, more than 50 Indian soldiers, pilots and other officers have been held by the neighbouring country as POW. These missing 54 are said to be soldiers of the Indian armed forces who were announced as missing in action (MIA) or killed in action by the government.

Out of the 54, there are 30 personnel from the Indian Army and 25 from IAF. These army and air force personnel include Captains, Lieutenants, Majors, Flight Officers, Wing Commander, Squadron leaders and others. This list was presented by the Ministry of External Affairs in 1979 in the Parliament. Families of these POW have even knocked the doors of International courts but none of it was able to provide assistance to them.

It was said that even India had as many as 90,000 Pakistani personnel as POW after the 1971 war but returned all of them as a part of Simba peace agreement. Pakistan initially denied having Indian prisoners in its custody. However, in 1989, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto finally informed India that Pakistan had Indian prisoners and she will do all that is possible to return them. Years later, former Pakistan PM Pervez Musharraf stepped back with the decision and denied having Indian prisoners in Pakistan.

Under the Geneva Convention, a POW is treated as a member of the armed forces of a party who falls into the hands of the adverse party during an international armed conflict and it provides a wide range of protection for them including defining their rights. It also sets down detailed rules for their treatment and eventual release.

The rules protecting POWs state that they cannot be prosecuted for taking a direct part in hostilities and that “their detention is not a form of punishment, but only aims to prevent further participation in the conflict”.

Abhinandan is possibly the first and the only prisoner to come back from Pakistani soil in a span of three days. The 38-year-old daredevil IAF pilot was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday after his MiG-21 Bison crashed in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).