In Bhadrak, the saga of Anand Patri, an Odia soldier serving in the Indian Army, spans nearly six decades, marked by his enduring incarceration within a Pakistani prison. Following the 1965 conflict between India and Pakistan, Anand found himself held captive within the confines of Kot-Lakpat Central Jail in Lahore.
Despite relentless endeavors by his kin, Anand’s liberation remains elusive to this day. The wheels of his release process are once again set in motion. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has enjoined the secretary of the Union Home Ministry to undertake suitable measures in this regard. Furthermore, Anand’s family has been advised to seek assistance from national human rights advocate and Supreme Court attorney, Radhakant Tripathi, if necessary.
Born in 1928, Anand hails from the village of Kalyani, situated within the jurisdiction of Dhamnagar police station in Odisha’s Bhadrak district. Enlisting through the Indian Army Recruitment Centre on Gokhale Road in Kolkata, he was later deployed as a soldier in the 31 Bengal Engineering Regiment of the Indian Army, participating in conflicts against both China and Pakistan in 1962 and 1965.
On February 7, 2003, the Home Department circulated Anand’s photograph in newspapers, disclosing his incarceration in a Pakistani jail. However, the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad referred to him as “Naseem Gopal.” Nasim (Anand), having succumbed to mental instability, rendered further identification efforts futile.
Upon sighting the published photograph, the villagers and Anand’s son, Vidyadhar Patri, a priest residing in Kolkata, recognized him. Vidyadhar promptly sought assistance from “Diganta,” a Kolkata-based social welfare organization, apprising Utpal Roy, a member of the West Bengal State Consumer Protection Council and the General Editor of the International Human Rights Council. Consequently, on February 5, 2004, Utpal dispatched a formal appeal to the secretary and director of the Odisha State Soldiers Board and the deputy secretary of the Odisha Home Department, advocating for Anand Patri’s release.
Vidyadhar and Utpal engaged with the then Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, and Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon, as well as Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, and various other dignitaries, apprising them of the situation. They also brought the matter to the attention of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Anwar Burney, during his official visit to Chandigarh, Punjab. Subsequently, Vidyadhar met with Pakistan’s Special Envoy, Hamid Ansari Parani, seeking his father’s repatriation in accordance with the prisoner of war protocol, receiving assurances that Anand would be handed over at the Wagah border.
On November 12, 2006, the Odisha Chief Minister dispatched a formal request to Pranab Mukherjee, urging facilitation of Anand’s release from the Pakistani jail. In response, on December 20, 2006, the Joint Secretary (Pakistan Division) of the Ministry of External Affairs, in tandem with the Chief Minister, instructed Utpal Roy to proceed to the Wagah border for Anand’s retrieval.
Arriving at the Wagah border alongside Vidyadhar, Utpal Roy discovered that, despite the Pakistani government’s release of numerous Indian prisoners of war, Anand Patri remained in confinement. Pakistan sought to release Anand as an Indian civilian detainee rather than acknowledging his status as a prisoner of war. This divergence stemmed from the provisions of the Geneva Convention, which restricts the detention of “prisoners of war” beyond twelve years. The Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad declined to classify Anand Patri as a prisoner of war. Since that juncture, Anand Patri has remained ensnared within the confines of a Pakistani jail.
Nevertheless, given Anand’s protracted endurance of torture, mental anguish, and suffering within the Pakistani penitentiary since 1965, there is a prevailing demand for his expeditious release as a “prisoner of war.” Administrative authorities of the state government, alongside OSS K. Ravi Kumar, Under Secretary, petitioned the Joint Secretary of the Department of Defence, Government of India, Praktan Sevadhadi, on August 3, 2023, seeking pertinent details regarding Anand and necessitating decisive action.
National human rights advocate and attorney, Radhakant Tripathi, initiated legal proceedings within the NHRC in 2020, prompting the commission to issue directives to the External Affairs Department on January 20, 2021, mandating action within an eight-week timeframe. However, owing to the lack of progress in the case, Tripathi initiated fresh litigation within the NHRC in 2023, prompting the commission to issue the aforementioned directives to the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs in its ruling.
Convening on March 8, 2024, the NHRC enjoined the Secretary of the Union Home Ministry to furnish a status report concerning the measures undertaken in this matter by April 15, 2024. Anand’s family remains hopeful that compliance with this directive will pave the way for his homecoming. Vidyadhar, who was merely seven years old when his father departed for war, fervently anticipates the long-awaited reunion with his paternal figure.