Until three out of her five sons were imprisoned in Pakistan for breaching the maritime border while fishing, Babiben Mandan Majethiya and her daughters-in-law had no idea that Pakistan even existed.
These women, who never went to school, still don’t know about the partition or the wars fought between India and Pakistan. “I only know my sons would never do anything wrong,” Mrs Majethiya had cried when they were locked up.
After one year in prison, the three men came home on the evening of July 1. When reached by phone on Sunday night, Mrs Majethiya had just finished cooking them a warm meal and tucking them into bed. “After so long, I will sleep peacefully and my heart will begin to mend,” she said. “But I will never let them go back to sea.”
Mrs Majethiya lives in Dandi, a small coastal village of Gujarat state in its Junagadh district, where several families are missing men who have been arrested by Pakistan for crossing the maritime border while fishing in the Arabian Sea. Many of them sail from Porbandar, the main port town and the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, which is about a five-hour drive from the rural hamlet of about 60 families.
A large number of arrests happen around Sir Creek, a disputed 100-kilometer (60-mile) marshland that divides Gujarat and Pakistan’s Sindh province, which has no clearly demarcated border. The fishermen are caught because they pursue the best catch, which is found closer to Pakistan where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea, as crews of commercial trawlers face intense pressure from boat owners who hire and fire frequently. Also, a large number of boats don’t have a GPS system, and even if the equipment exists, few fishermen have been trained to use it. In most instances, waves and wind are blamed for pushing the boat toward Pakistan in the night.
The fishing community in Dandi feel like pawns as they live with the consequences of the hostility between the two countries. While poor fishermen are arrested, boat owners lose their trawlers, worth at least 2.5 million rupees ($44,000). “We risk losing loved ones and our livelihood every day,” said Madhubhai Soneri, an elderly activist from Porbandar who is fighting to stop the arrests.
Meanwhile, over 200 Pakistani fishermen are imprisoned in India for the same reason as their Indian counterparts. “No one has turned out to be a terrorist or spy, so why this treatment by both governments?” said Muhammad Ali Shah, head of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, a non-governmental organization based in Karachi.
On June 27, Pakistan released more than 300 fishermen from Malir jail outside Karachi. Nasir Aslam Zahid, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, arranged for the prisoners to travel in six air-conditioned buses to Punjab’s Wagah border.
Mr Zahid, also a member of the India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on Prisoners, said he hoped that the remaining 131 prisoners can be released in the next few months. “But by that time, we would have arrested more and so would India,” he said.
The six-member Judicial Committee, an advisory board consisting of retired judges from Pakistan and India, recommends that both countries stop the arrests and detention of fishermen. “This is a body set up by both governments, but nobody listens to us,” said Mr Zahid. “It’s so frustrating to watch fishermen and their families suffer for no reason at all.”
While the cycle of arrests continues, families that are left behind face severe economic adversity. In places like Dandi, there is little to do except fishing, but Gujarati women don’t go to sea. Agricultural labor, which fetches about 100 rupees ($1.75) per day, is hard to find daily.
Jagdish, a fisherman from Porbandar who goes by one name, used to earn 5,000 rupees every month. After he was arrested, his wife, Kanta, started cleaning utensils for 2,000 rupees monthly, but it wasn’t regular work. The family cut its rations and pulled two girls out of school. Although Mr Jagdish has returned, the hardships continue. “He is so afraid of going back to sea that I don’t blame him,” said Mrs Kanta. “The girls’ marriages will have to wait.”
In 2007, the Congress Party said it would give 300,000 rupees in compensation for the next of kin of captured fishermen, and a handful of people received the money. The program, however, is now viewed by many as a Congress ploy to gain votes in state elections at the time.
“Nothing was released for fishermen who were arrested after that,” said Jignesh Visavadia, a local official with Marine Products Exports Development Authority, which coordinates activity between the state and central government. “Maybe some package will be announced during the next elections,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government now provides only 50 rupees per day to families of arrested fishermen. “It is barely enough to survive, but politicians are not interested,” said Mr Visavadia.
But it isn’t just the financial hardships that women talk about. “Do I have to say how much I missed him?” said Mrs Kanta, looking shyly at her husband, who steadfastly gazed into the distance. When the neighbours mischievously cheered at her sentiment, the middle-aged couple couldn’t resist grinning at each other.
Wives and mothers in Pakistan grapple with the loneliness and loss of livelihood as well, said Mr Shah of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. “The condition of families is worse here because there is no monetary help from the government,” he said.
NDTV Convergence Limited 2012