Indian soldiers under British Raj used as ''guinea pigs''

London, Sep 2 (UNI) Hundreds of helpless Indian soldiers serving under the British Raj were used as ''guinea pigs'' in gas chambers to test the effects of poison gases on humans by scientists during the World War Two, documents uncovered by the Guardian have revealed.

The trials had started early in 1930s when Porton scientists wanted to find out if mustard gas inflicted greater damage on Indian skin compared to British skin. More than 500 Britons and Indians were exposed to mustard gas.

The newspaper report said the British military did not check the after effects of the gas on the Indian skin. It has now being discovered that mustard gas can cause cancer and other diseases.

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.

Newly discovered documents at the National Archives have shown for the first time, the full scale of the experiments.

The experiments were conducted over more than ten years before and during World War Two in a military installation at Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan. They were conducted by scientists from the Porton Down chemical warfare establishment in Wiltshire who had been posted to the sub-continent to develop such poisonous gases to use against the Japanese.

The Indian tests are little-known part of Porton's huge programme of chemical warfare testing on humans. More than 20,000 British soldiers were subjected to chemical warfare trials involving poisonous gases, such as nerve gas and mustard gas, at Porton between 1916 and 1989.

Many of these British soldiers have alleged that they were duped into taking part in the tests, which have damaged their health in the years after the trials.

The reports record that in some cases, Indian soldiers were exposed to mustard gas, protected only by a respirator. On one occasion the gas mask of an Indian sepoy (a private) slipped, leaving him with severe burns on his eyes and face.

In 1942 the Porton scientists reported that there had been a ''large number'' of burns caused by the gas among Indian and British test subjects. Some were so harsh that they had to be sent to hospital. ''Severely burned patients are often very miserable and depressed and in considerable discomfort, which must be experienced to be properly realised,'' wrote the scientists.

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.

Alan Care, a lawyer representing British troops tested at Porton, said ''I would have been astonished if the Indian subjects gave any consent to taking part in these tests, particularly as they were conducted during the days of the British Rule. No one would have agreed ... if they knew beforehand what was going to happen.'' Porton officials have argued that trials took place in a different era, during a conflict, and so their conduct should not be judged by today's standards.

The Ministry of Defence could not say whether the Indian soldiers were volunteers in the experiments. It only said ''The studies undertaken at the Chemical Defence Research Establishment in India included defensive research, weapons research and physiological research. These studies supported those conducted in simulated conditions in the UK in a different environment.'' UNI XC BDP RP PM1515