The British Empire had the power of life and death over Pakistanis then. Its military scientists wanted to do experiments on humans. They wanted to send them into gas chambers and expose them to poisonous mustard gas - that can cause cancer and other fatal diseases. They had soldiers of Pakistani and Indian descent stationed right here, at Rawalpindi. The troops were serving under the command of the British military.
Hundreds of these soldiers were sent to the gas chambers. Many suffered severe burns on their skin, including their genitals, leaving them in pain for days and even weeks. Some had to be treated in hospital. Other soldiers were hospitalised for a week after they were sent into a gas chamber wearing "drill shorts and open-necked, khaki, cotton shirts" to gauge the effect of mustard gas on their eyes.
In some cases soldiers were exposed to mustard gas protected only by a respirator. On one occasion the gas mask of a sepoy (a private) slipped, leaving him with severe burns on his eyes and face.
The experiments took place over more than 10 years before and during World War Two. They were conducted by scientists from the Porton Down chemical warfare establishment in Wiltshire who had been posted to the sub-continent to develop poison gases to use against the Japanese. The tests were used to determine how much gas was needed to kill a person on the battlefield. The scientists also wanted to find out if mustard gas inflicted greater damage on Indian skin compared with British skin.
In 1942 the scientists reported that "Severely burned patients are often very miserable and depressed and in considerable discomfort, which must be experienced to be properly realised".
Porton Down was founded in 1916, and is the oldest chemical warfare research installation in the world. Until the 1950s Porton developed chemical weapons such as mustard gas and nerve gas. In the 1940s and 1950s Porton also devised biological weapons, chiefly anthrax bombs.
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