Indications of torture and killing of the prisoners has brought further concern in the international realm regarding the POWs. Most of the people who have visited the camps say that the prisoners are housed in barracks and treated humanely. They maintain that the military prisoners are provided with a regular allowance to purchase meats, soap and cigarettes.

Reports regarding the POWs have conflicted, however. A statement issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross in October 1972 (one that has since been disavowed by the organization) concerning the shooting of six prisoners said that "two at least, if not three, seemed to be cases rather of cold-blooded murder than of self-defense [by the prison guards]."

Official Indian radio broadcasts have also indicated that 43 POWs have been killed and 69 wounded since hostilities in Bangladesh ended in 1971.

Several actions have been taken in recent weeks to put diplomatic pressure on the Indian government to release the prisoners.

On March 27, a conference of Islamic foreign ministers in Benghazi, Libya, appealed to India for the immediate release of the prisoners.

On the same day, Chou En-lai, Premier of The Peoples Republic of China, told a newsman in Peking that "if one favors justice, one must speak out on this subject."

On April 5, Pakistan again formally called upon the 115 signatory countries of the Geneva Convention "to do everything in their power to ensure respect of the Geneva Conventions in the matter of repatriation of Pakistani POWs."

The current issue of Newsweek magazine contains an article describing current efforts by wives of Pakistani POWs to make people aware of the plight of the prisoners. The article says that they have followed the pattern of their "American counterparts...placing full-page ads in the Western press, touring the U.S. and Europe and buttonholing every foreign newsman they can find to tell their story."

It seems apparent, however, that as long as India remains loyal to the Bengali government and President Bhutto fails to concede the Bengali demands until international law is recognized, the prisoner issues will remain deadlocked.

At the heart of the issue is a long history of political struggle on the subcontinent. India's support of Bangladesh in her war of independence only intensified this struggle and magnified the deep rifts which had already existed between the governments of India and Pakistan.

Her continued violation of the Geneva Convention adds salt to the wounds of an already bloodied diplomatic situation.

It is clear from recent accounts that India is beginning to feel the burden of supporting the POWs, a cost of $20 million thus far. However, the Bengalis continue to use the POWs as political pawns in an attempt to gain concessions from Pakistan, and without their consent the Indian government is reluctant to take any formal steps towards releasing the prisoners.

The only bargaining point that Pakistan's President Bhutto can resort to is the 160,000 Bengali detainees being held in Pakistan. And, according to the current Newsweek article, "Bhutto fears that if he recognizes the Dacca regime, the Bengalis and the Indians will only demand more concessions."

It is apparent that the POW issue is hopelessly deadlocked at the present time, a situation which seriously undermines any hopes for peace on the subcontinent in the near future.

But the real victims of this conflict are the military and civilian prisoners themselves, who rot away in the prison camps of India while the diplomatic volleyball is tossed about between the governments of the three nations.

Perhaps the best advice that Americans can take regarding the issue is found in an advertisement of the April 13 issue of The New York Times. The ad, sponsored by two private Pakistani foundations, said, "Congratulations, Women of U.S.A., your boys are back home...but think of the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of 90,000 Pakistani POWs and Civil Internees in India."

It seems apparent that diplomatic recognition will not come before there is an agreement upon some mechanism for releasing the prisoners.

Official Indian radio broadcasts have indicated that 43 POWS have been killed and 69 wounded since hostilities in Bangladesh ended in 1971.