Waiting for Prem Nath

AN-12-BL-534 made a U-turn and was returning to Chandigarh when it suddenly lost contact with ground control while flying over Rohtang Pass — only a few seconds from the border. Shammi was 19 when she was married. Five and a half years later her husband, Squadron Leader Prem Nath Malhotra, had co-piloted that ill-fated sortie. She visited me day after day, refusing to be called a widow. She kept waiting for her husband to return.

Since I had a school-going son, my heart went out to 7-year-old Sajid, Shammi’s son. After a great deal of persuasion, he was admitted into Mayo College, the same school that my son went to. There was still no trace of the plane and the family had to reconcile itself to this. But every now and then stories about the presence of Indian prisoners of war held in Pakistani jails kept appearing in newspapers.

Over time, Sajid grew up. He did his masters in an US university and now works in a reputed firm in Dayton, Ohio. He went on to become an US citizen. One day, he received information that his father could be in a Pakistani jail and he wrote to General Musharraf in 2002: ‘‘What advice do you give a son? I do not want to give up and believe, with this appeal, that I have the best opportunity to get an honest answer as to whether my father might be alive. As you may imagine, I am willing to do anything to reach a resolution.”

Recently, Shammi learnt that Flight AN-12-BL-534 had crashed as the multilated body of Sepoy Beli Ram, found on the south Dakka Glacier in Lahaul-Spiti, proved. Shammi has become a widow all over again. The air force says that it will retrieve the wreckage of the plane. On August 6, Sajid e-mailed to me: “This is most likely the end of the road for our family. Can you please help us to get in touch with the right individuals so that the families can pay their last homage these soldiers deserve?”

In the present climate of improved Indo-Pak ties, both governments must put aside needless acrimony and address the issue of prisoners incarcerated in each other’s jails. They must remember that behind each person there are numerous grieving family members who deserve all the help possible.