18 Bangladeshi detainees at JIC go on hunger strike

Three of the Bangladeshis — Mohammed Taiyab Shah, Bardri Biraj Kumar Sharma, and Sabir Ahmed Anipir — were caught by customs officials near Jakhau on October 30, 1996, when their boat allegedly strayed into Indian territorial waters. Their boat was seized, and they were handed over for interrogation at the JIC.

The 15 others were caught by a Border Security Force (BSF) patrol off Lakhi Nala near Koteshwar, near the western tip of Kutch district. They are: Hunu Miya, Babul Mohammed, Alladin Noor Ahmed, Nooresalam Tadir Islam, Mohammed Momin, Abdul Tahir, Abdul Kalan, Kulan Rehman, Joshim Rulla Miya, Anwar Abdul Razak, Mohammed Allaudin, Mohammed Rooshnar Jama, Mohammed Noor Alam, Shah Alam Badshah, and Kalan Idries. Their boat was seized, too, and they were sent to the JIC.

Proceedings against the first three were initiated by the additional customs commissioner, Ahmedabad, and against the other 15 by the assistant customs commissioner, Bhuj.

Interrogations by the BSF, state police, and the intelligence agencies found them innocent. They were officially described as innocent Bangladeshis harassed by the Pakistani authorities.

The JIC authorities confirmed that the Bangladeshis were on hunger strike, but refused to divulge any details. Express Newsline managed, through sources, to get in touch with three of the detainees.

One of them, who spoke a little English, said: “Yes, we have crossed over from Pakistan, and some of us have even stayed their illegally, in Karachi and towns in Sind, for the last three or four years. But that does not mean we are Pakistanis.

“Our families are in Bangladesh, and we want to get back there. We should not be pushed back to Pakistan against our will.”

About the hunger strike, he said: “We will not touch food till the state government assures us that we will be sent to Bangladesh not Pakistan.”

The office of the district superintendent of police, Kutch, who is in charge of the JIC, has clarified to the home department that they are not Pakistanis but Bangladeshis, and that they are not a security threat.

However, the department insists that their names be included in the list for an exchange programme with Pakistan.

Bharat Dholakia, a lawyer and human-rights activist said, “If that is done it will be both illegal and unethical. Besides, the fishermen will have to wait till an exchange programme with Pakistan is worked out. That is unlikely in the near future, given the strained relations between the two countries.”

Dholakia said he was collecting information to plead the case of the fishermen, as this involved not only wrongful confinement but also breach of human rights.