Death has a way of rearranging the furniture of life. Drawers that have remained shut are opened and stories whose memory has grown faint re-emerge with greater clarity. If you’re lucky, you’ll find something insightful in what’s been left behind by the dearly departed. And, on the rare occasion, you may just find something revelatory.

You may just find a bundle of 159 letters tied together with a string, charting one man and his family’s extraordinary circumstances from 1971 to 1974.

This is that man, and that family’s, story.

The 159 letters written by my Nana [maternal grandfather], Saiyid Safdar Nawab, emerge a few days after his passing on December 26, 2025. They tell a story that spans the length and breadth of the Subcontinent, much like the fortunes of my family itself.

But, as with most stories, we’ll have to start at the beginning.

From 1971 to 1974, Saiyid Safdar Nawab wrote more than 150 letters to his family in Pakistan while he was held in India as a prisoner of war (POW) after the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The letters, discovered upon his death in December, present a poignant portrait of what it was like to live in POW camps for three years, separated from his family and his life back home, and the agonising wait for a return…

Born in Aligarh in 1932 to a father who was a sessions court judge, Safdar Nawab migrated to West Pakistan at the age of 20. After completing his postgraduate studies in physics, he joined the Army Education Corps (AEC) in May 1957 and taught at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) for more than 10 years.

In 1971, following the closure of the MT (military training) Directorate at the General Heaquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, he was asked to join the Martial Law Headquarters in Dhaka as a G-2 (an information collection and analysis role). The officer initially chosen for the task wiggled his way out of the job and so, through a strange twist of fate, Safdar Nawab landed in Dhaka (or, as he spells it in adherence to its colonial-era spelling, “Dacca”) in August 1971. His wife and two children stayed back at their home on Hythe Road in Rawalpindi.

By this point, tensions were already high as Pakistan’s military action in East Pakistan had begun on March 25, 1971 — and things were only set to escalate even further once the Indian army marched into East Pakistan a few months later. After the Indo-Pak war in December of that year, the Pakistan military personnel stationed in Pakistan’s former Eastern wing became prisoners of war (POWs).

It is in the immediate aftermath of the war that Safdar Nawab sent his first letter from this collection of 159.

IN ‘DACCA’

Written on December 27, 1971, it is addressed to his wife, Shahnaz Nawab, his son, Syed Raza Nawab (aged 11), and his daughter, Mahnaz Nawab (aged two). It is written on an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) message form, which has instructions on it in English, Urdu and Bengali. A stamp on the paper states, “Prisoner of War Mail”, while an instruction declares “Not over 25 words, family news of strictly personal character only.” The details mentioned on the form are as follows:

Sender: Major SS Nawab AEC

Postal Address: HQ MLA Sector 5 ZONE B CAMP B c/o ABPO-99 Dacca Cantt

Country: East Pakistan

Receiver: Mrs Shahnaz Nawab

Postal Address: 4-A, Hythe Road, Rawalpindi Cantt, West Pakistan

The message reads: “I wish and pray that you are well. I am fine and hope to see you all soon. We move out of Dacca in two weeks’ time.”

But, as the stamped date in the corner reveals, this message form doesn’t reach the Rawalpindi General Post Office (GPO) till February 21, 1972. In fact, the more than dozen letters that he writes over the course of those initial four months after the war are written without him even knowing whether his words are reaching his family.

Nevertheless, he keeps writing.

From giving personal updates in early January, such as “I am still in Dacca and quite comfortable. Our messing arrangements are excellent. Most of the time we spend working for the welfare of our men. I am in perfect health”, to trying to give reassurances during an uncertain time — “I am not sure if you have read my letters. I have been writing frequently. We may move out tomorrow. Shall write on reaching the next station with my address. Don’t write back for the time being. I am fine and fit. Have no worries about me. Look after yourself and pray for an early reunion” — he keeps writing.

For those few months after the war, while he keeps sending his posts, his loved ones back home have no knowledge of his whereabouts or his well-being.

However, after January 16, 1972, Safdar Nawab doesn’t write a letter for another 10 days. The reason why becomes apparent in what he sends next.

TRAIN TO INDIA

When he writes again, it is on a plain-looking postcard sent on January 26, 1972, but now the instructions on it are in English and Hindi. “Prisoner of War Mail” remains emblazoned in the corner and now his details read as follows:

Name: Major Safdar Nawab

Place and date of birth: Aligarh, 1.7.32

Prisoner of War No. S-4684

Name of camp: No 33 c/o APO 56

Country where posted: India

He is now........

© Dawn (Magazines)