Pakistan releases 145 Indian fishermen as goodwill gesture

The fishermen will travel to Lahore and then reach India via Wagah Border

KARACHI: Pakistan released the first batch of 145 Indian fishermen detained in Pakistani jails on Thursday as part of a goodwill gesture while another 146 fishermen are scheduled to be released on January 7, said Edhi Foundation Head Office Director Faisal Edhi. They were arrested for fishing illegally in Pakistani waters years ago.

The fishermen were taken to the Karachi Cantonment Railway Station amidst tight security and boarded the Allama Iqbal Express for Lahore. From there they will walk through the Wagah Border back to their homeland.

Faisal welcomed the decision and appealed to the Indian government to return the gesture by releasing Pakistani fishermen languishing in Indian jails for so many years. The Edhi Foundation also presented the fishermen with gifts and Rs5,000 each for their journey.



Talking to The Express Tribune, he said that arresting the fishermen and seizing their boats leads to an increase in poverty among the fishermen community on both sides of the border. He claimed that at times up to half a dozen male members of a single family board the same boat and are caught. “It’s a human rights issue as the families of the fishermen suffer for years,” he said, adding that there needs to be a permanent solution to this issue.

Every year hundreds of Indian and Pakistani fishermen are arrested along with their boats by India and Pakistan as the maritime border in the Arabian Sea is poorly defined and the boats lack the technology needed to identify their precise location. Faisal maintained that the fishermen are neither criminals nor trespassers. “Their sole purpose is to fish and earn a livelihood; the authorities of both the countries should release them immediately,” he said.



Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Chairperson Muhammad Ali Shah appreciated the goodwill gesture by the authorities and condemned their Indian counterpart for not releasing Pakistani fishermen on time. “Both Pakistan and India need to sit together to come up with a ‘no-fishermen-arrest-policy’ so that the already deprived fishermen community on both sides of the border can earn their bread and butter without any complications,” he said.