Pir Muhammad hugs his 19-year-old son Abbas Ali Makhro, who returned on Thursday after spending over a year in jail in India after his team of fishermen were detained in October 2014. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
The small group left Lahore on a passenger train a day earlier after being released a few days ago by the Indian authorities. They were detained in October 2014 along with their fishing boats over allegations of crossing the border in the sea.
Three of the freed men belong to Sujawal district while the remaining ones belong to Karachi's Bilal Colony and Machhar Colony.
After hugging their family members, the young fishermen sat down with The Express Tribune to recall the time spent in jail. It was not an ordinary experience to be jailed in a foreign country, especially in India, shared one of them.
After their boats were seized in 2014, the fishermen were taken to a local police station, where they were kept for seven days. "Police and other agencies frequently asked them about Dawood Ibrahim," recalled 22-year-old Azizur Rehman, one of the freed fishermen. "Sir, I only know about water and fish. I can tell you about them," was Rehman's innocent reply to the authorities.
Apart from Rehman, all six fishermen who belonged to Karachi were questioned about the whereabouts of Dawood Ibrahim, a wanted man in India. "I asked them to send me to jail but don't question me about a man about whom I know nothing," said Nazeer Ahmed, 23. "They also showed me maps of Karachi and asked me if Dawood Ibrahim lives somewhere nearby," he added.
The fishermen were, however, happy to narrate that they were neither tortured nor humiliated in jail. "Pakistani prisoners were asked to sweep and cut the grass in the jail," said another freed fishermen, Muhammad Yousuf. Doctors and medicine were always available for us, he said before smiling and adding that they were given the same medicine for fever and abdominal pain.
The lack of contact with their families tore up their hearts and none of the nine fishermen were allowed to contact anyone for the last year. "There was no telephone facility nor did anyone ask us to contact the family," said Yousuf, adding that none of them expected to be released so soon. "It is just like Eid for all of us and our family members," he added. Yousuf was happy with the feeling of freedom he had as soon as he got off the train in Karachi. "This is my country and I am free now."
Liaquat Ali, a fisherman who was released in June last year, also reached Cantt railway station to welcome his jail mates. "I did not have a single penny in my pocket when the news of my friends' release circulated," he said, adding that he borrowed money from his friends in his village near Keenjhar to receive his friends.
Abbas Ali Makhro's father, Pir Muhammad, teared up when he hugged his 19-year-old son. There is an annual urs of Hazrat Shah Yaqeeq near Sujawal and the father planned on taking his son to the saint before going home. "It is a miracle I got back my son," said the excited father. "Everyone in the village was praying for his safe return and their prayers are accepted now."
Kamal Shah, a representative of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, said that dozens of families still await their loved ones, who are languishing behind bars in Indian jails. He said a 16-year-old boy, Rasheed Walari of Ibrahim Hyderi, has been imprisoned for the last three years. "He is the only child of his parents," said Shah, adding that the Indian government should also release him on humanitarian grounds.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2016.
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