Eleven Pakistani fishermen who spent years in Indian jails after crossing into Indian waters while fishing were reunited with their families in Karachi on Friday morning. Relatives met them at the Edhi Centre near Merewether Clock Tower after the men arrived by road from Lahore in Edhi Foundation ambulances.
Indian authorities had handed the group over at the Wagah Border more than two months earlier. Their detention had lasted from roughly three and a half years to nine years, according to the men who spoke after the reunion.
Years apart, then a Karachi welcome
Kamal Hassan Bengali of Machhar Colony said he was held for eight years. He learned only through a letter, three years later, that his mother had died on the day their boat was seized. Holding his eight-year-old niece Areeba, he said he was meeting her for the first time. All seven of his brothers and his sister married while he was away. His sister Manzoora said the duty of finding him a match now rested with her, and that she would arrange his marriage soon.
Noor Nabi Bengali, also of Machhar Colony and on the same boat, described jail meals of lentils with plain rice or potato and cauliflower curry that sometimes smelled spoiled. Abdul Rehman of Korangi, who said he spent nine years inside, recalled poor food, lonely days, and jail staff who, in his view, treated Pakistani inmates harshly.
Work, travel home, and unfinished searches
Khamiso Siddiq Mallah of Shah Bandar, now 60, said he spent almost four years in custody and will not return to fishing. He plans to work as a labourer instead. Mehboob Ali Mallah of Badin, held for three and a half years, said his journey was not over: he still had to reach his village and three children waiting there.
Basheer of Machhar Colony said fishing is the only trade he knows, but he will avoid Sindh waters that border India and work off Balochistan instead. He also said he intends to regain about 70 pounds lost in jail by eating properly at home.
Saleem Sabro of Thatta came to look at Basheer because he has searched for his missing brother, Ahmed Ali, for five years. He said he visits whenever Pakistani fishermen return from India. A man freed last year told him Ahmed Ali was in a jail in Ahmedabad. Sabro said he has contacted Pakistan’s embassy in Delhi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ansar Burney Trust. He added that his brother finished his sentence two years ago but has not come home; in the meantime Sabro arranged marriages for the brother’s two daughters and an apprenticeship with a motor mechanic for his young son.
More than 70 still held, society chair says
Fatima Majeed Motani, chairperson of the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society, said more than 70 Pakistani fishermen remain in Indian prisons after crossing the maritime line by mistake. She also said Indian fishermen are held in Pakistani jails and, in her assessment, receive better treatment because they are seen as people who strayed unintentionally.
For coastal families, Friday’s reunion closed one chapter and left another open: the men home in Karachi can rebuild daily life, while relatives of those still missing keep asking officials for answers.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Gyara Pakistani mahi geer India ki jail se nikal kar Jumme ko Karachi pahunchay aur apne ghar walon se mile. Unhein do mahine pehle Wagah Border se wapas kiya gaya tha, aur woh Lahore se Edhi ambulance mein aye. Kai saal qaid ke baad kuch log ab machhli pakarna chorna chahte hain. Fishermen society ki sadr ke mutabiq ab bhi sattar se zyada Pakistani mahi geer India ki jailon mein hain.
