KARACHI, Oct 20: Speakers at a seminar held here on Monday urged the governments of Pakistan and India to take a lenient view of the cases of fishermen detained by each other for fishing illegally in their territorial waters, maintaining that the fishermen usually were picked up for inadvertently crossing the sea borders by mistake.

They said both the governments should take steps for an early release of the erring fishermen after their arrest.

They noted that the arrested fishermen were detained and jailed for a long time by security agencies of both the countries.

The speakers pointed out that the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea presented a very clear guideline regarding protection and utilisation of marine resources, as well as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the coastal states.

However, they added, Pakistani and Indian fishermen had continuously been facing a lot of problems while fishing in the Arabian Sea and suffering at the hands of marine security agencies.

According to them, fishermen are frequently apprehended, charged with having violated maritime boundary and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), detained and sent to jail. While the poor and helpless fishermen spend years in jails, the plight of their families in distress is tragic. They face starvation and serious economic problems in the absence of their bread earners.

Entitled “Detained fishermen”, the seminar was organized by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) and chaired by its chairman, Mohammad Ali Shah. The speakers included Karamat Ali, the executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler), Velji K. Masani, the head of the visiting Indian delegation, and PFF representatives Sami Memon and Saeed Baloch.

Adviser to the Chief Minister on Prisons Gul Mohammad Jakhrani was also invited to attend the seminar as a special guest.

Defending the erring fishermen, the speakers argued that there were no signs installed to warn the fishermen about the sea border. In fact, there was no agreed upon sea boundary clearly dividing the two countries’ territorial waters in the Arabian Sea, they said.

The security agencies of both the countries have worked out an “imaginary” border in the Sir Creek region off the coast of Kutch, they claimed.

It is observed that fishing boats may unintentionally and unknowingly cross the sea border in case of high tide, forceful currents, wind force, cyclone or some technical fault.

The speakers also noted that arrest of fishermen for violating the sea border appeared to be mostly arbitrary and, in some cases, simply a ‘tit for tat’ action or retaliation.

There exists no established policy or legal provisions to ensure the release of such fishermen. Ironically, both the countries treat these fishermen as if they were “prisoners of war” who are released from time to time on an exchange basis.

The speakers regretted that the two countries had never tried to work out a concrete policy on this issue.

According to the recently released figures, there are about 350 Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails and 235 boats seized by security agencies while 55 Pakistani fishermen and 87 boats are currently in custody of the Indian security agencies.

Humanitarian issue

Deploring the plight of detained fishermen, Karamat Ali urged the governments of South Asian countries to consider the cases of detained fishermen on humanitarian grounds and find out a permanent solution to the problem as early as possible. Under the Law of the Sea, no country had the right to imprison fishermen, he said.

Velji K. Masani, observing that the plight of both the countries’ fishermen was the same, held out the assurance that every effort would be made for the welfare of Pakistani fishermen detained in India.

Earlier, Mohammad Ali Shah, in his welcome address, said that his organisation had been raising the issue time and again. He called for finding a permanent solution to the problem and suggested holding of a moot, with the participation of relevant NGOs of both the countries, to workout a joint strategy in this regard.

Mr Shah regretted that the Indian delegation, which had been in Pakistan for a week, was yet to be given the permission to see detained Indian fishermen.

Minister’s assurance

Adviser to the CM on Prisons Gul Mohammad Jakhrani said that the issue of Indian fishermen’s detention was a federal subject as it involved bilateral relations. However, he held out the assurance that the provincial government would put forward the seminar’s recommendations to the relevant federal authorities.

He attributed the tense relations between the two countries to the policies pursued by the previous government.

Boat modification

Separately, Sindh Minister for Fisheries Zahid Ali Bhurgari on Monday chaired a meeting to review progress of upgrading the Karachi fish harbour to meet the standards set by the European Union for the lifting of an EU ban on seafood imports from Pakistan.

The minister stressed the need for accelerating the pace of boat modification work. The boat modification committee, set up to oversee the process, informed the meeting that 11 large,35 medium and 170 small boats had been modified till date while work on another 12 large boats was being started shortly.

Under a government-sponsored programme, 200 large boats are being modified and have to be kept ready for inspection by an EU delegation to be invited for the purpose shortly.