Murad Muslim becomes another cyclone statistic

QUETTA: Muslim Murad, the captain of a fishing vessel, is no longer urging the authorities to save his and his crew’s lives. He is now listed among fishermen missing because of Cyclone Phet.

Over the past few days, newsmen from all over Pakistan had pleaded the case of Muslim Murad, who had gone for fishing last month.

With his cell phone, he had managed to get in touch with all his acquaintances in Muscat, Oman, the UAE, Karachi, Quetta, Gwadar, Ormara and finally his hometown, Jiwani. He said the engine of his vessel had failed soon after being struck by the cyclone near Jiwani.

TV channels reported his message, asking the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Coast Guards, provincial Disaster Management Authority for help. Unsuccessfully, they pleaded with the authorities that the small fishing boat needed to be rescued.

The rescue calls went unheeded.

At one point, when his cell phone’s balance got used up, a young journalist recharged it so that the distressed man could continue to communicate with relevant authorities.

Everyone listened with bated breath when the fishing boat’s captain reported that the boat was repeatedly being lashed by giant waves in “view of Jiwani”.

His relatives became desperate after they learnt about an Iranian coast guard vessel entering Pakistani waters, they pleaded with local authorities to urgently save the boat’s crew.

Just as Pakistani security personnel were preparing to go out to the sea under pressure of Murad’s relatives, the vessel disappeared. Nothing was heard about the vessel by anyone till the filing of this report. Muslim Murad’s cell phone is silent.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2010.