Counting bodies

The impoverished fishermen should be given better protection and be respected both in life and in death.

For years, Pakistan and India have played with the fate of fishermen who accidentally cross territorial waters while out at sea. These unfortunate persons have usually ended up in jails in each other’s countries, often with families quite unaware of where they are or what has become of them.

Now things seem to be taking an even darker turn. Indeed, it is a macabre one, perhaps better suited to a horror movie than to dealings between two states. For well over a month, the body of an Indian fisherman, who died while being held in custody in Pakistan, has been lying at an Edhi centre morgue. The refusal to hand it over to his family across the border is tied in to a tit-for-tat game that it seems has been played over some time. Indian authorities, too, have failed to return the bodies of Pakistanis who have died in prison, sometimes holding onto these until they can be ‘exchanged’ for another body.



These acts of inhumanity can only astound. Even given the history between the two countries, it is hard to believe authorities would act in this manner in this day and age. World bodies monitoring the rights of fisherfolk have objected strenuously. So have human rights groups in both countries. But we do not seem to be making the progress that needs to be seen. For relations between the two countries to get better, both need to first ensure that we do not violate the basic rules of humanity. Indeed, there will be no progress otherwise.

The committee set up to look into the issue of fisherfolk has not met for a prolonged period of time and older protocols are being followed. It seems, in fact, things may be taking a turn for the worse. This is simply unacceptable. The dead can, of course, do no harm. Nor can they speak up for themselves. It is up to all of us to demand that the impoverished fishermen who stray across invisible lines, often as a result of sea currents or winds, be given better protection and be respected both in life and in death. This is not what is happening right now. Both nations should be ashamed of themselves and act swiftly to amend matters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th,  2014.

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