SynopsisThe story of India’s soldiers missing in action is one that remains unfinished, a spillover of the wars with Pakistan that lingers till today. These are men who went missing in enemy territory while on daring missions during the 1965 and 1971 Indo–Pak wars. The wars ended but for their next of kin, the battle had just begun.
Officially, the number of soldiers missing in action stands at eighty-three, but many believe it could a lot more. The nation has forgotten them, though successive governments continue to make token acknowledgements about their missing status.
Over the last five decades, there have been scattered news reports and a few memoirs offering information piecemeal, but this is the first time the saga has been fully told. The result of years of research, Missing in Action has unearthed startling revelations that shed new light on the subject. Amid much hearsay and dismissive commentary on the issue, this book is an attempt to find an answer to the question, ‘What happened to these men?’ It also hopes to open up a debate on how soldiers are often used as pawns by governments, even as they pay lip-service to their cause.
R.S. Suri, Maj. A.K. Suri’s father, pushed from pillar to post in search of his son, died a broken man; Capt. Bakshi’s parents retired from social life and died hoping their son found his way back home; Damayanti Tambay, wife of FLt Lt Tambay, is still waiting for her husband’s return. Their stories are a reminder to us that wars do not always end with the signing of peace accords.
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Binding: HardBack
About the author
Chander Suta Dogra, earlier with Outlook magazine and now with The Hindu, has covered north India for two decades. She has travelled extensively in the heartlands of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir for investigative reporting, often at great risk to herself, on issues ranging from caste and women to the agricultural crisis. This is her first book. ?