Harassment of fishermen

The fishing community has accused the coastguards of extortion.

There are issues we talk of too infrequently in our country. One of these is the situation in which various deprived communities live. Among the worst off are the fishing communities, with those based in the Karachi area, gathering at the village of Ibrahim Hyderi on World Fisheries Day, which fell on November 21, to speak about the dismal conditions in which they lived, the lack of schools for children to attend and the failure to protect their basic rights. One of these is the right to basic dignity — and it seems even this is being stripped away from the fisher folk.

A few days ago, the fishing community, under the Pakistan Fisherfolks Forum, gathered to protest repeated incidents of extortion by the coastguard. About a week ago, after a few fisherfolk declined to pay the money demanded of them, an incident had occurred in which they were forced to strip naked by the coastguard, who said they needed to check if they were Muslim or Hindu. The men were beaten till they complied. Sadly, no notice seems to have been taken of this act of extreme high-handedness and the gathering staged by hundreds of fisher folk has not led to any action been taken. The fisherfolk, who point out that as a peaceful community they have not resorted to more radical action such as placing their boats to block the port, have faced many other wrongs in the past, forced to sell their fish only to Rangers or now landowners in Sindh under various contracts imposed on them, according to a report.

It is time the voice of the fisherfolk is heard. It is important to set the right precedent in society by defending the weak. This after all is a sign of civilisation and also of a truly democratic culture. Sadly, we have too often failed in this task. It is time for change. Members of the coastguard guilty of harassment and extortion must be punished for abusing their powers.

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

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.