India needs to be proactive to secure fishermen’s release from Pak jails: Activists

“The Indian government needs to be more proactive. The efforts put in by the bureaucracy and the government are not enough. Of the 625 Indian fishermen in Pakistan, 14 have completed their punishment in 2018, 151 have completed their sentence in 2019 and 80 have completed their punishment in 2020. Still, they continue to languish in the jails,” Desai said in response to a question from a student who asked if the Gujarati origins of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala have helped in securing the early release of Indian fishermen lodged in Pakistan.

Desai said the entire process of identifying and verifying the nationality of fishermen caught by Pakistan and getting consular access continues to take several months. “The animosity between the two nations and the lack of interest among bureaucrats have added to the problems,” said Velji Masani, a leader of the fishing community from Mangrol who was also present during the screening of the documentary.

Drawing a parallel between the Gujarati fishermen caught by Pakistan and those from Tamil Nadu held by Sri Lanka, Desai said: “When Tamil fishermen get caught, the two main political parties—DMK and AIADMK—raise the issue in Parliament in unison. Unfortunately, this does not happen in the case of politicians from Gujarat.”

The 50-minute documentary directed by Santosh Kohle also talks about how fishermen find it alluring to fish in Pakistani waters, where pollution is less compared to the Indian waters where untreated industrial effluents get released into the sea near the Gujarat coast. The documentary not only touches upon the experiences of fishermen released from Pakistani prisons but also reveals the struggles of families of those who still continue to be in Pakistani jails and the difficulties in securing the bodies of fishermen who pass away during such imprisonments.