KARACHI: As many as 10 Pakistani fishermen, who were languishing in Indian jails for some six years, were reunited with their families at the Edhi Centre in Kharadar here on Wednesday morning.

Six of the fishermen — Mushtaq Ahmed, Roshan Ali, Abdul Ameen, Fareed Alam, Mohammed Ramzan and Mohammed Arif — hail from Karachi’s Ali Akbar Shah Goth in Ibrahim Hyderi while the remaining four — Long Mullah, Rahib Ali, Mohammed Hamza and Ahmed Thaheemor — belong to Badin.

They were handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah Border in Lahore by India on July 16. Thereafter they were kept in quarantine for a few days to make sure they were healthy.

Meanwhile, their families, after learning of their return, were finding it very hard to wait, which was finally over on Wednesday.

On reaching Karachi, the aging fathers of some of the poor fishermen embraced their long-lost sons while the fishermen also couldn’t hold back their tears on being reunited with them. Some of them, who were fathers themselves, were overjoyed at seeing their own children, too.

Nine-year-old Areesha greeted her father Mushtaq Ahmed after six years. The father held his little girl close for a long while. “She was so small when I was captured. I feel so sad to have lost out on watching her grow,” he told Dawn as he smothered her with kisses.

He also embraced Kamal Shah of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum (PFF), who had brought his daughter with him to receive her father.

Kamal Shah said the families of these fishermen undergo a lot of hardship in making ends meet with their earning members gone.

“The PFF has been doing whatever it can to help, such as getting them food rations as well as other necessary items like new clothes for the children for Eid,” he said. Little Areesha was, in fact, wearing a new frock that was also provided to her by the PFF.

Meanwhile, Fareed Alam, who was happy to see his father Noor Alam come to receive him, kept telling him that he was all right while the father thought that the son had lost a lot of weight.

But the returning fisherman said that he, along with the others, was not mistreated in the Indian jail. “We were made to work there just like the Indian prisoners. And we also got paid for the work we did. We used that money to buy things such as food and snack items for ourselves in jail,” said Fareed Alam.

Roshan Ali’s father, Moazzam Ali, also said that his son was 26 when he went missing six years ago. “He is 32 now but looks over 40,” he said sadly.

Mohammed Sabir, father of Mohammed Ramzan, said that his son was 18 when he was caught. “He is 24 now,” he said.

There were also some like Ali Mohammed of Badin for whom the wait to see his loved one was still not over. Ali Mohammed’s nephew Mohammed Ali was only 14 when he was picked up by the Indian coastguard at sea. “He is 20 now. I was really looking forward to seeing him today but he has been held up in Lahore apparently. He did not come to Karachi with the others,” he said sadly. “Still, we find solace in the fact that he is in Pakistan at least,” he added.

Mohammed Johar, father of Abdul Ameen, while hugging his son, requested the media to kindly also raise the issue of the other fishermen still languishing in Indian jails. “You can’t imagine the pain of separation,” he said. “They are not criminals. They are just fishermen who crossed over to the other side by mistake. They and their families don’t deserve to pay so heavily for something they did not do intentionally,” he said.

According to the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS), there are still 89 Pakistani fishermen locked up in Indian jails. It was also pointed out that while Pakistan has recently released 400 Indian fishermen, India on their part have only released 19.

The 10 fishermen, who reached Karachi on Wednesday, were handed over a sum of Rs20,000 each by the FCS. The Edhi Foundation, who were also responsible for bringing them to Karachi from Lahore, also presented them with Rs5,000 each.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2023