British military scientists sent hundreds of Indian soldiers into gas chambers to test mustard gas during more than a decade of experiments that began before World War II, a media report said.

British military did not check up on the Indian soldiers after the experiments to see if they developed any illnesses. It is now recognised that mustard gas can cause cancer and other diseases, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

The experiments began in the early 1930s and lasted more than 10 years at a military site in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, paper reported, citing newly discovered National Archive documents.

The experiments in Rawalpindi were part of a much larger programme intended to test the effects of chemical weapons on humans, the paper reported.

The UK Ministry of Defence could not say whether the Indian soldiers were volunteers in the experiments.

British vs Indian skin
The experiments 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 trials had started when Porton scientists wanted to find out if mustard gas inflicted greater damage on Indian skin compared with British skin. More than 500 Britons and Indians were exposed to mustard gas.
Alan Care, a lawyer representing British troops tested at Porton, said: “I would be astonished if these Indian subjects gave any meaningful consent to taking part in these tests, particularly as they were conducted during the days of Empire. 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 Indian tests are a little-known part of Porton’s huge programme of chemical warfare testing on humans.

More than 20,000 British soldiers were subjected to nerve gas and mustard gas trials at Porton between 1916 and 1989.

Many of these British soldiers have alleged that they were duped into taking part in the tests.

TALES OF TORTURE

*Hundreds of Indian soldiers were sent into gas chambers to test mustard gas.
*Many soldiers suffered from severe burns on their skin, including their genitals.
*More than 500 Britons and Indians were exposed to mustard gas trials.
*More than 20,000 British soldiers were subjected to chemical warfare trials between 1916 and 1989.
*The experiments began in the early 1930s and lasted more than 10 years.