Goodwill gesture: 18 Indian fishermen released in Karachi

They will cross the border at Wagah today

KARACHI: Prison authorities in Karachi on Sunday released 18 Indian fishermen who had been held for straying into Pakistani waters while fishing.

“[They] were held for violating [the] territorial waters of Pakistan,” explained Prisons Inspector General Nusrat Mangan, adding that the move to free them was a goodwill gesture.

“The men will be taken to Lahore via train to be handed over to India at the Wagah border,” he added.

Subsequently, the fishermen were escorted by police from Landhi Jail in Malir District of Karachi to the Cantt railway station in the city. They later boarded a train for Lahore and are expected to reach the walled city today (Monday).  The fishermen are expected to cross into India at Wagah at around noon.



The fishermen, originally hailing from Gujarat, had been arrested by the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) for violating Pakistan’s territorial waters while fishing in the open sea.

According to the Indian chapter of Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), these fishermen had completed their prison terms in late 2014, but were only released on Sunday, The Indian Express reported.

Gujarat Fisheries Commissioner MA Narmawala confirmed the development. “Yes, we are told they [Pakistan] are releasing the 18 fishermen. We have sent a team to Wagah border to receive them,” he said.

Pakistan and India often arrest fishermen from their coasts since the maritime border in the Arabian Sea is poorly defined and many boats lack the technology to prevent them from straying into each other’s territorial waters.

Earlier this month, Indian Border Security Force (BSF) detained 18 Pakistani fishermen and seized their two boats for violating the Indian maritime boundary line off the Koteshwar coast in Kutch. It followed the arrest of 10 Indian fishermen by the MSA off the coast of Jakhau.

So far this year, Pakistan has released nearly 191 Indian fishermen who completed their prison terms. Though, there are at least 300 others are currently languishing in Karachi prisons. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2016.