A 35-year-old fisherman from Gujarat who was on the list of 99 other counterparts from India who were awaiting repatriation from Pakistan jail died in a Karachi prison early this month. The cause of the death remains unknown.
The news came on a day when activist Jatin Desai Tuesday appealed to Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister Anwarul Haq Kakar to release and repatriate all Indian fishermen who have completed their jail-term in Pakistan.
The 100 fishermen were scheduled to be released from Pakistan last month but their release got delayed indefinitely due to unknown reasons.
Desai, a former general secretary of the Indian chapter of Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), said that Jagdish Mangal Bamaniya, a fisherman from the Nanavada village of Kodinar taluka of Gir Somnath district, died in Karachi jail on August 6. “He died in Malir prison on August 6 but we do not know the cause of his death. It’s already been two weeks since his death and there are no details available as to when his mortal remains will be repatriated to India,” Desai, a journalist-cum-peace activist, who has been working for the welfare of fishermen of India and Pakistan told The Indian Express.
In an email to Kakar, Desai lamented the delay in the release of the Indian fishermen and suggested that had the batch of the 100 fishermen been released in July as per an announcement made in May, “Bamaniya may have been alive today”. “Pakistan released and repatriated 398 Indian fishermen in May and June this year. Pakistan was to repatriate another batch of 100 Indian fishermen in July. But, that didn’t happen,” read Desai’s letter.
The activist also appealed to the Pakistan PM to release and repatriate the Indian fishermen at the earliest. “I, along with the fishing community, request you to kindly release and repatriate (the remaining) 99 fishermen as soon as possible. Also, release and repatriate other fishermen whose sentence is over and nationality confirmed,” Desai wrote, adding, “India has also reciprocated by releasing a few Pakistani fishermen and civilian prisoners.”
While Gujarat Fisheries Commissioner Nitin Sangwan could not be contacted for a comment, Balu Socha, president of Samudra Shramik Sangh (SSS), a Kodinar-based NGO working for the welfare of fishermen, said Bamaniya was caught by the Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) on February 18, 2022 for allegedly crossing over to the Pakistan side of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) while fishing on board Maha Kedarnath, a trawler belonging to Krishnaben Motivasar of Porbandar. “His name was on serial No.97 of the list of Indian fishermen who were to be released in July this year,” Socha said.
Bamaniya is the son of a widow and the eldest among two brothers. His cousin Mayur Bamaniya said Jagdish got married last year.