How Should A Country Treat PoWs?

The movie Shershah has already become a household name, taking us all back to the stories of the Kargil war. At 1:16:09, the movie shows a snippet of a soldier who got captured by the Pakistani army. However, it doesn't give much information about that soldier who became the first Martyr of the Kargil war.

The kidnapping of 22 years old Capt. Saurabh Kalia marked the beginning of the gruesome war of Kargil. He and five soldiers of his patrol got brutally tortured before their dead bodies were handed to their families.

Captain Kalia and his men faced intense torture by the Pakistani Army, who pierced their eardrums with hot iron rods, punctured their eyes, and severed their genitals. They also had burn marks made from cigarette butts. The Pakistani Army fractured their skulls, smashed their teeth, and dismembered their limbs completely. They had also cut off the lips and noses of six young soldiers.

Along with Capt. Kalia, there are many unnamed PoWs who never got to meet their families. In order to provide justice to the families of all the prisoners of war, it becomes mandatory for every citizen to know about the laws protecting the rights of all these people and what can our country do to protect those rights.

India ratified the Geneva Convention in 1950, becoming the fifth country in the world to become a part of this convention. The Convention protects the rights of every person, whether a combatant or a non-combatant, who gets captured by a hostile country during or after an armed conflict.

The Geneva Convention of 1949 gives the following rights to the PoWs -

1. No one can compel PoWs to give any information other than their name, rank, age, and service number.

2. If the individual cannot answer the question because of his physical or mental condition, he should immediately get over to the medical corps.

3. Any personal items, other than arms and military papers, should not be taken away from him.

4. After the armed conflict reaches its end, the PoWs should get released and repatriated.

5. Every PoW should always receive honor and respect.

6. They have the right to inform the International Committee of Red Cross about their capture.

7. If they are held captive for a long period of time, their families get the right to contact them on a regular basis.

8. PoWs should get adequate food, clothing, and shelter.

9. No one can compel them to perform any dangerous task.

10. If he gets wounded, he has the right to receive help from the International Committee of Red Cross.

Any country that violates the Geneva Convention can be penalized by the International Court of Justice. In the war of 197, a large number of people were captured by India. Pakistan urged India to send them back after the ceasefire. However, India wanted to send them back to Bangladesh. This instigated a lot of disagreements between the two countries, which led to Pakistan filing a case against India in the International Court of Justice.

In conclusion, Geneva Convention is a compilation of provisions that protects the basic human rights of the people who get captured by the countries involved in an armed conflict. War brings a lot of suffering and pain to the soldiers and their families. The chaos of war shouldn't become an excuse to disown our humanity.

For a more detailed understanding, refer to the" Pakistan vs India" case study by clicking the case below.

Pakistan vs India