ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (APP): It was a diplomatic coup by PM Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in Sharm-el-Shaikh with his Indian counterpart which earned a favourable response from the harsh Indian lobby and led to the de-linking of terrorism as a pre condition for the resumption of composite dialogue between the two nuclear powers. And now once again our unanimously elected Prime Minister has taken the lead. PM Gilani has taken a giant humanitarian step by releasing 100 detained Indian fishermen.
Indeed it is a very timely and commendable gesture which deserves accolades.
It was in the second week of July, 2009, that on the invitation of Pakistan Fishermen Forum (PFF) that I visited Ebrahim Hydri, a fishermen village at Karachi’s coastal area. The event was a reception by PFF in honour of a three-member delegation of Indian peace activists on a visit to Pakistan.
All the speeches and slogans were directed to a pressing issue faced by the fisherman on both sides of the border that they are often harassed, tortured and arrested on charges of crossing the border in the sea.
Mai Bhagi, a 60 years old woman from Rehri, another fisherman village on Karachi coast, was on my right at the stage; she came with a list of four family members who had left for fishing in the sea and never returned home.
“It has been more than 15 years now that they are in Indian jails. Here are the names and details; I beg you to please help me and get them released”, she said while handing over the list to the Indian delegation.
Just two chairs next to her on the stage was Kavita Srivastava, peace activist from Rajasthan in India. She also had a list of Indian fishermen who are in Pakistani jails for years.
“I have also brought a list of Indian fishermen who are in Pakistani jails simply for just crossing into the Pakistani waters by mistake”, she said handing over the list to me.
“When I was leaving India, families of detained fishermen came to me and asked for help; please do something”, she added with tears in her eyes.
Srivastava, though not directly affected, brought the pain of the families of poor Indian fishermen who are suffering as their loved ones languish in Pakistani jails.
She shared how women have been rendered destitute and children stopped from going to school after the bread earners of the family were arrested by Pakistani authorities.
In contrast to Srivastava, we had Mai Bhagi, the one who is directly affected and her pain and agony was brutally visible when she spoke to a crowd of 500 men and women who had gathered to greet the Indian delegation.
“There is not a single adult member in the family.
Our women and children do domestic work to barely survive. We are helpless. It is only a letter once a year, which brings hopes that our loved ones are alive,” she added.
Unfortunately, poor and helpless fishermen from Pakistan and India are arrested by each other’s Maritime Authorities on charges of violation of border in the sea and sent to jail for an indefinite period.
Majeed Motani, a fishermen leader from Ebrahim Hydri gave us a true picture of what exactly happens. Motani along with ten other fishermen went on a fishing trip. Unable to catch fish in the nearby waters, they went deep into the sea, two days had passed, tired, they went to sleep. On the third night they woke up to shouts and screams and found themselves surrounded by Indian navy boats.
Next day they were in a jail in India.
“We did not know whether we crossed the border or we were arrested from Pakistani waters. There is no demarcation, how could we find that we have crossed the Pakistani waters,” lamented Motani.
And then he broke into tears to share the heavy price he and his colleagues had to pay by languishing in Indian jails for two years.
Motani was amongst the few lucky ones who got back in two years while many others still languish in Indian jails.
In any other part of the world this issue would have been simple. Fishermen violating sea borders would have been given verbal warnings and they would have just moved their boats back. Maximum they would have been arrested and released on the very next day.
Unfortunately, in the case of India and Pakistan, these poor fishermen fall victim to political hostilities between the two countries. These hostilities are now six decades old and have achieved nothing except sufferings for the common people.
It is the complicated State policy in such matters which make things difficult and often even people like me who are part of the government fail to understand the logic behind all such actions.
Once arrested these detained fishermen spend their time in misery and deprivation. They live in isolation as there is no channel of communication as their families have no means of knowing as to what happened to their loved ones.
They are at the mercy of the jail officials. In short they are treated like war criminals.
Strained relations between two rival countries have contributed so negatively that even those fishermen who have completed their sentences in jails cannot get back to their respective countries for years.
The lengthy process is that the two countries will first agree on a list of people in each other’s jails and then the exchange of prisoners will be on an equal number basis. This means that India will release only 50 people if the number of Indian prisoners released by Pakistan is 50 regardless of the number of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
Undoubtedly, this is an inhuman act particularly when no fishermen arrested by both the countries during all these years have ever been proved guilty of any heinous crime.
Time has come to think about this issue seriously and find a just, humane and permanent solution of the problem. If it is difficult to work out a solution within the legal frame work of the two countries then the United Nations convention on sea laws can be taken as a guiding principle.
It is in the interest of both India and Pakistan that they safeguard the rights of their citizens specially the poor and marginalized fishermen.
In Ibrahim Hydri all demands were directed to me both from Indian delegates as well as from Pakistani civil society representatives who requested that I take up this issue with the federal government.
Subsequently I passed on the message to the highest authority.
Similarly Srivastava also promised to deliver Mai Bhagi’s message to the Indian government. We decided to stand up together to promote peace, harmony and to stand up against the forces of hatred and enmity in order protects the rights of our poor fishermen.
Prime Minister Gilani deserves highest praise for taking such a humanitarian initiative of releasing Indian fishermen.
It is not only a gesture of goodwill but he has set an example of humane treatment in accordance with our Islamic faith which teaches compassion.
This worthy action will no doubt act as a confidence building measure between India and Pakistan.
It is now time for India to reciprocate with equal magnanimity and release our Pakistani fishermen suffering in Indian Jails for decades. LINK
It was in the second week of July, 2009, that on the invitation of Pakistan Fishermen Forum (PFF) that I visited Ebrahim Hydri, a fishermen village at Karachi’s coastal area. The event was a reception by PFF in honour of a three-member delegation of Indian peace activists on a visit to Pakistan.
All the speeches and slogans were directed to a pressing issue faced by the fisherman on both sides of the border that they are often harassed, tortured and arrested on charges of crossing the border in the sea.
Mai Bhagi, a 60 years old woman from Rehri, another fisherman village on Karachi coast, was on my right at the stage; she came with a list of four family members who had left for fishing in the sea and never returned home.
“It has been more than 15 years now that they are in Indian jails. Here are the names and details; I beg you to please help me and get them released”, she said while handing over the list to the Indian delegation.
Just two chairs next to her on the stage was Kavita Srivastava, peace activist from Rajasthan in India. She also had a list of Indian fishermen who are in Pakistani jails for years.
“I have also brought a list of Indian fishermen who are in Pakistani jails simply for just crossing into the Pakistani waters by mistake”, she said handing over the list to me.
“When I was leaving India, families of detained fishermen came to me and asked for help; please do something”, she added with tears in her eyes.
Srivastava, though not directly affected, brought the pain of the families of poor Indian fishermen who are suffering as their loved ones languish in Pakistani jails.
She shared how women have been rendered destitute and children stopped from going to school after the bread earners of the family were arrested by Pakistani authorities.
In contrast to Srivastava, we had Mai Bhagi, the one who is directly affected and her pain and agony was brutally visible when she spoke to a crowd of 500 men and women who had gathered to greet the Indian delegation.
“There is not a single adult member in the family.
Our women and children do domestic work to barely survive. We are helpless. It is only a letter once a year, which brings hopes that our loved ones are alive,” she added.
Unfortunately, poor and helpless fishermen from Pakistan and India are arrested by each other’s Maritime Authorities on charges of violation of border in the sea and sent to jail for an indefinite period.
Majeed Motani, a fishermen leader from Ebrahim Hydri gave us a true picture of what exactly happens. Motani along with ten other fishermen went on a fishing trip. Unable to catch fish in the nearby waters, they went deep into the sea, two days had passed, tired, they went to sleep. On the third night they woke up to shouts and screams and found themselves surrounded by Indian navy boats.
Next day they were in a jail in India.
“We did not know whether we crossed the border or we were arrested from Pakistani waters. There is no demarcation, how could we find that we have crossed the Pakistani waters,” lamented Motani.
And then he broke into tears to share the heavy price he and his colleagues had to pay by languishing in Indian jails for two years.
Motani was amongst the few lucky ones who got back in two years while many others still languish in Indian jails.
In any other part of the world this issue would have been simple. Fishermen violating sea borders would have been given verbal warnings and they would have just moved their boats back. Maximum they would have been arrested and released on the very next day.
Unfortunately, in the case of India and Pakistan, these poor fishermen fall victim to political hostilities between the two countries. These hostilities are now six decades old and have achieved nothing except sufferings for the common people.
It is the complicated State policy in such matters which make things difficult and often even people like me who are part of the government fail to understand the logic behind all such actions.
Once arrested these detained fishermen spend their time in misery and deprivation. They live in isolation as there is no channel of communication as their families have no means of knowing as to what happened to their loved ones.
They are at the mercy of the jail officials. In short they are treated like war criminals.
Strained relations between two rival countries have contributed so negatively that even those fishermen who have completed their sentences in jails cannot get back to their respective countries for years.
The lengthy process is that the two countries will first agree on a list of people in each other’s jails and then the exchange of prisoners will be on an equal number basis. This means that India will release only 50 people if the number of Indian prisoners released by Pakistan is 50 regardless of the number of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
Undoubtedly, this is an inhuman act particularly when no fishermen arrested by both the countries during all these years have ever been proved guilty of any heinous crime.
Time has come to think about this issue seriously and find a just, humane and permanent solution of the problem. If it is difficult to work out a solution within the legal frame work of the two countries then the United Nations convention on sea laws can be taken as a guiding principle.
It is in the interest of both India and Pakistan that they safeguard the rights of their citizens specially the poor and marginalized fishermen.
In Ibrahim Hydri all demands were directed to me both from Indian delegates as well as from Pakistani civil society representatives who requested that I take up this issue with the federal government.
Subsequently I passed on the message to the highest authority.
Similarly Srivastava also promised to deliver Mai Bhagi’s message to the Indian government. We decided to stand up together to promote peace, harmony and to stand up against the forces of hatred and enmity in order protects the rights of our poor fishermen.
Prime Minister Gilani deserves highest praise for taking such a humanitarian initiative of releasing Indian fishermen.
It is not only a gesture of goodwill but he has set an example of humane treatment in accordance with our Islamic faith which teaches compassion.
This worthy action will no doubt act as a confidence building measure between India and Pakistan.
It is now time for India to reciprocate with equal magnanimity and release our Pakistani fishermen suffering in Indian Jails for decades. LINK
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