Author Fatima Bhutto seeks release of IAF pilot captured by Pakistan

"I and many other young Pakistanis have called upon our country to release the captured Indian pilot as a gesture of our commitment to peace, humanity and dignity. We have spent a lifetime at war. I do not want to see Pakistani soldiers die. I do not want to see Indian soldiers die. We cannot be a subcontinent of orphans," Bhutto wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times. 

"My generation of Pakistanis have fought for the right to speak, and we are not afraid to lend our voices to that most righteous cause: peace," she said.

India has strongly objected to what it says is "Pakistan’s vulgar display of an injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention".

Earlier, India had admitted that it had lost an aircraft and the pilot had gone missing across the LoC. Videos had surfaced on social media where an injured man in apparently IAF uniform was seen amidst Pakistani military personnel. The IAF pilot has been identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan.

"It was made clear that Pakistan would be well advised to ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel in its custody. India also expects his immediate and safe return," India's ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

In a video released by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Wednesday evening, the man, who identifies himself as Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan, is seen answering questions for the camera while sipping tea.

He says the Pakistan Army officers have treated him well.

"They are thorough gentlemen. Starting from the captain who rescued me from the mob... the soldiers... and thereafter the officers at the unit to which I was taken. This is what (how) I would expect my army to behave. I am very impressed by the Pakistani Army," he says in the video.

When the official behind the camera in the video asks details about the aircraft he was flying and his mission, he politely declines to answer.

Image: Fatima Bhutto Twitter page