KARACHI, Nov 7: Ninety-three Pakistani fishermen, who had been in Indian custody on the charges of trespassing its maritime zone, were warmly received by their relatives and Pakistani officials when they arrived in Karachi, after their release on Friday.

Touching scenes were witnessed when friends and family members, including children of some fishermen met them after, in some cases, two-and-a-half-year long detention in India.

The fishermen had been arrested by the Indian authorities along with their eight boats, of which seven could return home as one got damaged beyond repairs.

They arrived here in a convoy led by the MSS Nazim, the main battleship of the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), and were first received by MSA Commander Syed Sibte Hasan.

Speaking to the fishermen at an on board ceremony, Mr Hasan asked them to abide by the maritime laws and not to cross into Indian waters.

Highlighting the financial, psychological, and social cost paid by their families during their long detention, he said, “Greed often lands fishermen from both sides in prison; it is better to be satisfied with less catch rather than taking the risk of crossing jurisdictions,”

Another ceremony to welcome the released fishermen was held by the Fishermen Co-operative Society (FCS) in its community hall, at the Karachi Fish Harbour.

The FCS chairman, Sindh Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Sardar Manzoor Ahmed Panwar, gave Rs2,000, along with clothes and sweets, to each returning fisherman.

Mr Panwar, thanking the government for its efforts to bring the fishermen back home before Eid, informed that negotiations were underway with Indian authorities for early repatriation of the fishermen, who got arrested for accidental trespassing, besides calling upon the fishermen to observe the sanctity of international maritime boundaries.

The KFHA Managing Director, Dr Nawaz Baloch, FCS directors, Haji Shafi Jamote and Haji Ghulam Ali, besides other officials concerned were also present at the ceremony.

Haji Shafi Jamote, informed that the fishermen from the both sides sometimes deliberately cross the maritime jurisdictions, in search of certain particular types of fish.

Meanwhile, according to reports coming from India, one of their boat ‘Maha Laxman’ along with three fishermen, Shamji Jeva, Tamkan baba and Babu Premi that departed along with the main group of Indian fishermen has gone missing.

Indian coast guards are trying to locate the boat and have also requested Pakistani authorities for help.

Earlier, the MSA Commander informed the newsmen that last time India had released Pakistani fishermen in April 2001, whereas Pakistan had released 623 Indian fishermen, along with 99 boats in the last one year.

He said that still 16 Pakistani fishermen, along with three boats were in Indian custody, while there were 15 India fishermen and eight boats in Pakistani custody.

Mr Hasan said that he had handed over the documents and emergency passports of these fishermen to the representative of the FCS.

He pointed out that a committee would be formed comprising the representatives of the MSA and the FCS, which would try to resolve the issue of fishermen’s detention.

He said that the MSA had already recommended to the Indian authorities that the owner and the ‘Nakhuda’ of the boats should also be penalized.

It was also recommended that the registration of the boats be suspended for six months and in case a boat was caught again, its licence be cancelled and the owner be penalized accordingly, he added.

Referring to the ratio of the fishermen apprehended, from Indian and Pakistani sides, by the authorities of the two countries, he pointed out that against 100 Pakistani fishermen 600 Indians were nabbed.

However, the detained Indian fishermen were repatriated much earlier as compared to the release of the Pakistani fishermen by the Indian authorities, he regretted.

He said that on the directives of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistan had repatriated the Indian fishermen for the third time in a year.

He said that Pakistan had released more than 300 India fishermen and 50 boats, against India’s release of 93 Pakistani fishermen with seven boats.—PPI/APP