Sipahi (Sepoy) Maqbool Hussain

The Actual Event

Siphai Maqbool Hussain is a Pakistani soldier, who was injured and taken prisoner by the Indian Army in the 1965 war and spent 40 years in Indian jails. He was released as a civilian prisoner in 2005. During his imprisonment, Hussain was subjected to terrible human rights abuses.

Sepoy Maqbool Hussain of Azad Kashmir Regiment was declared missing on August 20, 1965 during Operation Gibraltar in Srinagar Area. He was understood to be have been martyred. Forty years later, he crossed the Wagah border in exchange for civilian prisoners. A far cry from the tall, well-built soldier he once was, mentally disoriented, was presumed to be a fisherman like the rest of the group who returned with him. On the homecoming of the soldier, neither his parents, nor his brother of Tarrar Khal on September 17, were in this world to receive him. In his saner moments, he kept writing “No.335139” whenever he was questioned about his identity. Weeks later, officials, realizing the significance of the number, handed him over to the military, under whose care he has been for the past two years. Now he is spending his life under the high attention, and love of Pak Army.