Hundreds attend protest over death of fisherman in Indian jail

Hundreds of fishermen from various localities, particularly islands, attended a protest on Thursday to condemn the killing of a Pakistani fisherman in an Indian jail.

The body of Pakistani fisherman, named Abdul Hameed Bhatti, resident of Keamari, was handed over to the Edhi Foundation on the Wagah border on Wednesday. He was arrested on January 8 by Indian forces after he mistakenly crossed over to Indian waters during a fishing expedition.

A large number of fishermen gathered on the Native Jetty Bridge to show their anger over the Indian government and also burnt an effigy of India’s Prime Narendra Modi.

Abdul Bar, the Fishermen Cooperative Society’s chairperson, said India was causing harm to Pakistanis imprisoned in its jails. “While in Pakistani jails, the Indian fishermen who mistakenly entered Pakistani waters are treated well and extended all kinds of facilities. On the other hand, the Pakistani fishermen caught in India are treated very badly and killed in some cases,” he said.

He said Pakistan had recently released around 500 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds but India had not released 119 Pakistani prisoners languishing in various Indian jails.

Barr, who is also a Pakistan Peoples Party leader, criticised the federal government, particularly the ministers for foreign affairs and maritime affairs, for “their criminal silence over the killing of a Pakistani fisherman in Indian jail”. He said they did not bother to issue a statement to condemn the brutal act of the Modi government. Asif Bhatti, an FCS director, said the recent death of the Pakistani fishermen in Indian jail had left the fisherfolk community in the grip of fear and panic as over 100 of them were languishing in Indian prisons.

The protesters demanded that the 119 Pakistani fishermen languishing in Indian prisons be released. They demanded that the Indian government should be pressed into releasing them otherwise they would hold a protest outside the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. PPP Keamari leaders Lal Badshah Jadoon and Asif Khan also participated in the protest.