Home and honour

Can we give them back their home and honour? That was the question the Sunday Express had posed to the nation while reporting on the story of Lance Naik Jagsir Singh and Sapper Mohammed Arif. The question is not just a rhetorical flourish on a front page. It demands a careful answer. There is no denying that the country is now seriously engaged in getting both these men 8212; held since September 1999 by Pakistan 8212; back to India and we are told that three ministries, that of defence, home and external affairs, are currently working on the modalities. But merely bringing them back to India will not adequately answer that question.

The crucial aspect to consider here is that a soldier8217;s home and honour are sometimes so inextricably linked that it is difficult to separate the first from the second. Both Singh and Arif have already paid a terrible price 8212; one that could prove even more traumatic than their five years in Pakistani jails. The dishonour of being labelled as 8220;deserters8221; from the army 8212; with the inevitable connotation of being traitors to the nation 8212; has all but destroyed their families, robbed them of the love and support of their spouses, and besmirched their reputations within their close-knit communities. All this apart, of course, from the loss of material comfort to family members entailed in the stoppage of salaries and other benefits accruing to them. It could be argued that cases like these are inevitable in the fog of an almost-war situation. But the army has to answer why the necessary due diligence was not done before the men were pronounced as 8220;deserters8221;, after apparent 8220;sightings8221;. All the considerable effort that the families of both men put into establishing their innocence seems to have met with a wall of apathy.

The Armed Forces must now ensure that other innocents in the future are spared such avoidable pain and trauma. Proper procedures need to be followed before people are termed as army deserters. Also, now that it has been established as clear as daylight that both Singh and Arif are innocent, they must be given every support in picking up the pieces of their broken lives. This should entail, at the very outset, a full and public exoneration.