Sea of pawns

The 113 fishermen released by Pakistan from Malir Jail and the over 80 that India has set free, following the telephonic conversation between the prime ministers of both countries in which this goodwill gesture was agreed upon on the eve of Ramazan, are simply pawns in a much bigger game played by the politicians who act as the kings and queens in this game of chess. Such releases have been made before, at times when symbolic friendship at some level is required. They will be made again for similar reasons. Beyond this, the fishermen do not really seem to matter. There have been agreements between the two countries that fishermen who venture accidentally into each others’ waters while at sea will be released swiftly rather than being held in jail. These agreements have been ignored for years. The fishermen held at Malir had been there for nine months or longer. They do not constitute all the fishermen held in Pakistan, just as the 82 reportedly released by India, including six minors, are not the entire number of Pakistani fisherfolk held in that country. It is reported that around 361 Indian fishermen are detained at Malir Jail alone. The figure is uncertain as is the one from India. Pakistan has already expressed concern that not all the 97 fishermen it has identified as Pakistani nationals are to be released. The fact is that these men, on both sides of the border, will be held back till they are needed for yet another game.
We do not hear about the detentions made at sea. We do not know when these fishermen are taken into captivity. The process of determining their nationality and identity is also often long drawn out and bureaucratic. In a number of cases, criminal charges are brought against them, making their release harder. We never seem to be told precisely what is going on in the high seas where the periodic dramas take place. Their presence is obviously a convenient one, used by both sides to further their own purposes. Both governments know the fishermen are innocent and can be used as cogs in the wheels of political machinery. Too little is also known about why these fishermen are trapped. The waters, as we know, are not marked. It is easy to venture into enemy territory, carried across by the wind and waves. It is also known that licences given to deep sea trawlers, sometimes from other countries, by Pakistan and India make it harder for fishermen in tiny boats to bring in enough catch to make ends meet. Around 50 trawlers operate in Pakistani waters – around the clock, with giant nets and heavy machinery taking in large amounts of catch. This means the fishermen from villages based along the Karachi coast must venture further and further out to sea in their feeble boats to try and capture the shrimp, prawn and fish they need to earn a livelihood. This tempts them into waters which are not their own, and lands them in a foreign jail cell. The same is true, no doubt, for the Indians. It is sometimes months before families know of their fate: and even though we welcome each release, we do too little to understand the full nature of the problem and how to prevent such hardship falling on some of the poorest citizens of the region.