Cousins in Jaipur jail for 15 years still alive, says released prisoner

Mazhar and Akbar Mallah were last seen in 1996 when they went fishing in the deep sea.

SUKKUR: It has been 15 years since Akbar Ali Mallah and Mazhar Ali Mallah went fishing in the Arabian Sea for the last time. Akbar was 19 while his cousin Mazhar was 25. They have been missing since.

As time passed, Akbar’s parents accepted the fact that perhaps they were never going to see their sons again. His mother died four years ago having been depressed for 12 years. Then, the family heard the news that the cousins were alive.

The messenger was Akhtiar Mal Oad, who belonged to Qasim Kalhoro village in Khairpur district. He had just returned from the Jaipur jail in India, where, Oad said, he met the two cousins. The Mallahs had been in jail for 15 years. Oad had gone to visit India four years ago. He was arrested for possessing Pakistani currency and was sentenced for three and a half years. While serving time in Jaipur jail, Oad met Akbar and Mazhar who told him their story. As soon as he was released, Oad came to Bulheri village, to inform their parents that their sons were alive. He felt that “it was his duty.”

According to Oad, at the jail there were more than 50 fishermen from Sukkur, Khairpur, Dadu, Jamshoro, Thatta among other areas.

Nazir Ahmed Mallah, Akbar’s younger brother, said that they had gone fishing in the deep sea with 11 other people in 1996. But their boat had capsized because of bad weather and the family thought that both of them had drowned.

Nazir is the only breadwinner of the family of four brothers and three sisters. The eldest, Mumtaz, died two years ago, while Mazhar and Akbar were in jail. The father, Karim Bux, was too old to work.

Nazir has appealed to the government to consider the case on humanitarian grounds and make arrangements to bring the men back to Pakistan.

Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Nazir Ahmed Bughio revealed that Akbar and Mazhar’s relatives had contacted him on the telephone and informed him about the situation. He assured that he would visit the family and also inform the home minister about the men so that he could make arrangements to bring them back.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2012.