Pakistan raises white flag, takes back two dead soldiers from LoC
TNN Bureau. Updated: 9/15/2019 12:36:35 PM
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SRINAGAR: Pakistan military raised the white flag to retrieve bodies of its two soldiers along the LoC in Hajipir sector of PoK after they were killed by the Indian security personnel during cross border firing, Army sources said Saturday.
The Indian Army on Saturday released a 1.47-minute video of the incident which showed Pakistan military personnel raising the white flag to retrieve the bodies of their soldiers.
White flag is raised to signal peace and truce.
The bodies were retrieved by Pakistan on September 13 following two days of unsuccessful attempts. An Army official said all attempts by Pakistan to take the bodies by force had been foiled.
“On September 10-11, Indian troops killed a Pakistani Sepoy Ghulam Rasool of their Punjab Regiment in Hajipir sector of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” the sources said.
They said the deceased soldier was a 'Punjabi Muslim' who belonged to Bahawalnagar in Pakistan's Punjab province.
“Initially, Pakistani soldiers, under the cover of intense ceasefire violations, attempted to recover the body, but another Pakistani 'Punjabi Muslim' soldier was killed while doing so,” the sources said.
The second Pakistani soldier was identified as Havaldar Nasir Hussain. Hussain belonged to Narowal in Pakistan's Punjab province.
After repeated attempts for two days, the Pakistani Army could not recover the bodies of their soldiers and only after they came flying a white flag that Indian Army allowed them.
"We allowed Pakistani soldiers to claim the two dead bodies after they raised the white flag which is a gesture of peace. The first soldier had been killed around 10 September. The other soldier was killed during an attempt to retrieve the dead body," a senior Army official told.
The sources said the Indian Army respects the dead and so permitted the Pakistanis to retrieve the bodies of their soldiers.
However, the bodies of five Border Action Team (BAT) Special Services Group commandos killed during an infiltration attempt in the last week of July in the Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir, still lie unclaimed by Pakistan.
Sources claimed that the Pakistani Army disowns Kashmiris, Northern Light Infantry soldiers and terrorists, but not 'Punjabi Muslim' soldiers.
Pakistan treats Kashmiris and Northern Light Infantry soldiers as "cannon fodder", the sources said.
The Indian Army has been undertaking the burial of several Pakistani soldiers whose bodies are left unclaimed. In the past, during the Kargil war, Pakistan did not claim the bodies of several of its soldiers who had been later buried by the Indian Army with full honours.