Vague Territory: Fishermen face brunt of border tensions

According to official data , a total of 297 Pakistanis are languishing in Indian jails, of which 37 were fishermen.

KARACHI: The arrest of Pakistani and Indian fishermen has intensified in recent months especially after the fresh Line of Control (LOC) tension between the armies of India and Pakistan, civil society activists of Pakistan and India said in a press briefing at the Karachi Press Club on Monday.

They said that during the last one month, around 40 Indian boats had been confiscated by Maritime Security Agency of Pakistan, which involved over 100 fishermen, who have been put behind the bars in Karachi’s Malir jail, where total number of Indian fishermen is now 342.

Jatin Desai, a senior journalist from Mumbai, said the situation was similar on the Indian side.

According to official data provided in the Supreme Court of India, a total of 297 Pakistanis are languishing in Indian jails, of which 37 were fishermen.

Speakers at the briefing said that prisoners were waiting for verification of their documents by the Pakistani government and urged the latter to do the needful at the earliest.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2013.