GWADAR / KARACHI: Fishermen belon­ging to the Jiwani area stopped fishing in the Arabian Sea along the Makran coast a day after over 100 of their colleagues were taken into custody by Iranian coastguards.

They organised a protest where their representatives asked the government to take up the issue with Iranian authorities.

According to the fishermen representatives, the fishermen on 20 boats were inside Pakistan’s sea limits when the Iranian guards captured them on Sunday.

The protesters condemned increasing incidents of arrest of fishermen along the Makran coast.

Deputy Commissioner of Jiwani Tufail Ahmad and Municipal Committee chairman Manzoor Baloch met the protesting fishermen and informed them that the government was making efforts for the release of arrested fishermen.

Mr Ahmad said Pakistani officials were in contact with their Iranian counterparts and were trying to resolve the issue. He said the issue would also be raised in a meeting of border coastguards of the two countries.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum’s secretary general in Jiwani Nazeer Baloch said that the Iranian guards captured the fishermen when they were inside Pakistan’s sea limits.

He said that in July also 20 Pakistani fishermen were captured by Iranian guards at sea along the Makran coast. They have been released, but their boats are still in the custody of Iranian authorities.

He said those fishermen had been taken to the Iranian coastal town of Chabahar after their arrest. After investigation they had been handed over to Pakistan’s Levies Force at the Taftan border.

He said each of the arrested fishermen was asked to pay Rs25,000 for the release.

Manzoor Baloch expressed concern over the seizure of boats by Iranian guards and said around 50 boats of Pakistani fishermen had been captured by Iranians over the past six months.

He said it was strange that the fishermen who were captured inside Pakistan’s sea limits had been accused by Iranian guards of crossing the border. After Sunday’s arrest, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has asked fishermen in Jiwani to suspend their activities at sea along the Makran coast.

So far authorities on both sides of the border have not issued statements on Sunday’s arrest. When contacted, a foreign ministry official said that he could not comment on the issue without having details of the incident.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2016