Rotting in jail: A boundary crossed, a lifetime altered

Relatives of fishermen detained in Indian jails long to be reunited with loved ones by Eidul Fitr.

KARACHI:

Tears cascade down Sadori’s face as she holds up a recent letter her husband, fisherman Usman Jatt, sent to her from India’s Jaipur Jail.

“I will complete 14 years in jail on May 5, 2013,” the correspondence states. “Please pray for me because my case is now in the Indian Supreme Court.”

Sadori is one of the approximately five dozen people – fishermen from the Thatta and Karachi districts and relatives of the captive fishermen – gathered outside the Fisherman Cooperative Society’s (FCS) office on Wednesday. Most of them are barefooted, running from one reporter to another, photos of their relatives clutched in their hands. Their protest follows the exchange of lists of detained fishermen between the Indian and Pakistani governments; they are tired of the wait and uncertainty, they want their loved ones back before Eidul Fitr.



“I have preserved all the letters my husband has sent,” says Sardori, urging the media to write about Usman and other such ‘wronged’ fishermen. “His writings will portray the plight of the fishermen in jail.”

Gone into the mist

Usman was one of the six fishermen who went missing in May 1999. A cyclone swept up the group and they unknowingly crossed over into Indian territory. For years afterwards, despite concerted efforts, India did not confirm whether or not the crew was detained. However, when one of the fishermen, Nawaz Jatt, passed away in an Indian jail in 2012, they had to acknowledge that Usman and his teammates were, in fact, locked up.

Neither here, nor there

Abdullah Walhari, another fisherman present at the protest, holds up photos of Hanif and Aachar Walhari, brothers who were arrested by Indian security agencies in 1993, for mistakenly crossing over the territorial border.

“They would write letters to us, but have stopped the communication,” says Abdullah. “We have now learnt that Indian jail authorities released them a few months ago, but they have reportedly been picked up by another agency in India.”



Aachar’s daughter, Rizwana, was merely one year old when her father was arrested. She is now married.

“We have received a letter by the crew [members] of the same boat, who were arrested with my father,” she explains. “The jail administration has released him but he has not reached Pakistan yet. We really hope he can celebrate the upcoming Eid with us.”

According to Sami Memon, spokesman for the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), “many fishermen released from jail are again being arrested by Indian agencies. This is violation of Geneva Convention.”

Home for celebrations

Ghulam Rasool Shaikh, welfare officer at FCS, said that they are negotiating with the Federal Interior Ministry, Pakistan High Commission in India and Sindh Home Ministry to see the release of all the Pakistani fishermen from Indian jails before Eidul Fitr.

FCS administrator Abdul Saeed Khan said at least 115 Pakistani fishermen are confirmed in Indian jails and the society is making determined efforts to bring them home on time.

One-sided disclosure?

According to Shaikh, Pakistan released 1,100 Indian fishermen from January 2012 to May 2013, while India released only 94 Pakistani fishermen during this period. The government of Pakistan always makes public how many Indian fishermen have been caught, and they are jailed through court decisions, he said. However, he expressed belief that the Indian government always hides accurate information, because of which poor fishermen remain ‘missing’, rotting in jails, for years.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2013.