The following is an excerpt from Major General Vijay Singh’s book on his father’s experience as a POW (prisoner of war) in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The book is titled: “POW 1971: A Soldier’s Account of the Heroic Battle of Daruchchian”. It has been published in light of Vijay Diwas by Speaking Tiger Books.
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A few days later the [Lyallpur POW Camp] commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Latif Malik, visited Hamir.
“Hello, Major, I am Colonel Malik. How are you?”
“Hello, sir. I am perfectly alright,” Hamir replied.
“You are the one from 14 Grenadiers, isn’t it?” Malik asked.
“Yes, sir, that’s correct.”
“We have some of your men here at Lyallpur too. They want to meet you,” Malik informed him.
“Really, sir? I would love to meet them, if you permit,” Hamir requested.
“You know, Major, today is Friday.”
“I am afraid I don’t know that, sir, I have no idea what day it is!” Hamir really had no idea.
“Being a Friday, we have the Jummah namaz at 1 p.m.,” Malik continued.
“Your men insist you should join them.”
Hamir smiled. The men of Charlie Company must have learnt that he had reached Lyallpur. As their company commander, Hamir usually joined their Friday prayers. If they knew he was present at Lyallpur they would expect him to join the Jummah namaz.
“Would you like to join them?” Malik inquired.
“Yes, of course!” Hamir replied.
“Are you quite sure?”
“Absolutely, sir, why do you ask?”
“Because you are a Hindu?” Malik remarked.
“Sir, for my company I am a Muslim,” Hamir replied. “It’s a tradition in our army. Every company commander follows the religion of his command. I command Muslim men and it’s my duty to join them for namaz.”
“Really! This I got to see!” he said in disbelief.
“You will only be able to if you allow me to join my men.”
“OK, let me see what I can do.”
Malik left the room looking pretty amused. At about twenty past twelve, another officer, Major Sher Jaman, arrived at Hamir’s cell.
“I believe you want to join the Jummah namaz,” he remarked.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“OK. Then come with me.”
Hamir accompanied the major to the mosque which was within the jail premises. As they arrived at the mosque Hamir removed his shoes and headed in the direction of the water tank. He washed his face, hands, elbows, head and his feet, right up to his ankles. He then rinsed his mouth.
From a distance, out of Hamir’s view, a group of inquisitive officers were keenly observing the Indian Hindu company commander.
As the call for prayer was announced Hamir joined in like any devout Muslim, bowing and prostrating himself, immaculately following the rules of prayer.
To any bystander, he would appear a regular Muslim. Colonel Malik, and Majors Khwaja and Sher Jaman watched amazed. For them, it was an unbelievable spectacle.
As soon as the prayer finished, Hamir’s men rushed to meet him. They were delighted to see him alive and crowded around him excitedly.
His men had last seen him grappling bare-handed with the enemy. Since he wasn’t with them at the POW camp, they had assumed he had died in battle. Though they had heard rumours that Hamir had arrived at Lyallpur, they refused to believe them until they saw him with their own eyes.
There was lots of excited conversation; Hamir had much catching up to do. He was keen to know what had transpired after his capture. As a result, although the prayers had finished quite some time back, the men stood chatting with their company commander.
Sher Jaman, who allowed the conversation, waited patiently, watching them closely. Finally, as it was getting late he decided to intervene. He walked up to Hamir and politely requested him to return to his cell.
The Pakistani officers’ respect for Hamir grew considerably consequent to what they had seen during the Jummah namaz. As they left the mosque he was guided to a new cell in the section of the prison where all the other officers were housed.
Hamir’s solitary confinement at Lyallpur Central Jail ended on July 7, 1972.