KARACHI: To mark International Human Rights Day, a webinar on ‘Prisoners of contention — speaking of issues and rights of Indo-Pak prisoners’ was held here on Thursday.

The event was organised by the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) in collaboration with several non-government organisations, including the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Edhi Foundation, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Legal Aid Society, Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and Aman ki Asha.

Most of the Indian citizens in Pakistan’s prisons and Pakistani citizens in Indian prisons are innocent captives of circumstances, destiny as well as the historical contention between India and Pakistan. They become victims of tense relations and do not get released and repatriated on the day of completing their sentences.

Indian citizen Hamid Ansari was the first prisoner in the history of more than 65 years to be released and repatriated on the day of completion of his sentence. Hence, his release also became a case of historical significance for the peace and human rights movement in India and Pakistan.

‘There is no visible demarcation in the sea and so the fishermen cross over unintentionally’

Speaking at the webinar, Mr Ansari said he was released on Dec 18, 2018 after being held for six years in Pakistani prison on charges of espionage that were later proved false.

“There were several prisoners who were innocent like me in jail. There was a taxi driver from Bannu, who was charged with facilitating the Taliban by driving them from Bannu to Kohat. But he said he had no way of knowing that his passengers were Taliban. It’s his job as a taxi driver to drive people to earn fare,” he said sharing his experience.

“The prison can turn into a recruitment centre as there are many dangerous criminals there and the innocent prisoners are also enraged and turning against the system, which failed them. It may be a rehabilitation centre for hardened criminals but not for them. Then after they come out, they are looked at with suspicion. I have not been able to get a job because of this. When I was in jail I saw some people come again and again to jail and they used to say that it was because the jail provides them with food and a roof over their heads at least,” he said. “Survival outside after doing time is very difficult.”

Hamid’s mother, Fouzia, shared her ordeal while her son was behind bars. She said that at first it was even difficult to establish where he was. She reached out to people on Facebook and that was how she came across a budding journalist who was able to find her son. “Individual efforts work. Don’t just leave everything to the government,” she said.

Karamat Ali of Piler said that both Pakistan and India call themselves democratic states but they blatantly violate the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which they are signatories to. “They cannot even demarcate their land leave alone the seas,” he said. “There should be a Saarc charter on the rights of fisherfolk,” he added.

Jatin Desai, a veteran journalist from India, said that he gets calls from desperate women of the fisherfolk community on a daily basis. “They want to know when their male relatives in jail in Pakistan would be released,” he said. “Sometimes even dead bodies don’t reach their homes even after passing of a month.”

During a panel discussion that followed Mohammad Ali Shah of the PFF pointed out that the sea on either side is of the same colour. “There is no visible demarcation in the sea and so the fishermen cross over unintentionally. Fish too on both sides cross over but humans are not allowed to do that,” he said.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said that the fishermen of both countries need to be educated. “They are all illiterate and need to be educated to at least be able to fight for their rights,” he said.

Haya Zahid of Legal Aid Society, Pakistan, said that it would be best in these times of the coronavirus pandemic to at least release the prisoners who have completed their sentences to lessen the congestion in prisons. “There are 362 Indian prisoners in our jails right now and 279 of them have already served their sentence. But sadly they are still inside because they have no access to a counsel and their legal process has not even started while they continue to languish in our jails,” she said.

Nirupama Subramanian, a journalist, said there is a general concept that these people who cross over to the other country are spies. “Then both sides use these prisoners as pawns. Trespassing carries a six-month sentence but here there are prisoners in prison for years. There is a need for pressure from the state level to sort this out. And it is our job to put pressure on the states,” she said.

Jivanbhai Jungi from the fisherfolk community in India and Vijayan M.J. of PIPFPD also spoke.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2020