KARACHI, May 31: Moving scenes were witnessed at the Edhi Centre at Tower on Thursday when 16 Pakistani fishermen returning from Indian prisons were received by their family members.

The fishermen had been caught by the Indian authorities while fishing in the unmarked Indian side of the Sir Creek area.

Besides relatives, the fishermen were received also by Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi and a Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum team, headed by its chief Mohammad Ali Shah.

They had strayed into Indian territorial waters over a year back and were arrested for ‘illegal fishing’. They were handed over to the Pakistani authorities by the Indian authorities at the Wagah border on Wednesday now that they have been released after completing their sentence. The Pakistani authorities finally handed them over to the Edhi volunteers in Lahore and they arrived in the city on Thursday afternoon after traveling by an Edhi Foundation bus.

As a homecoming gift, Sattar Edhi presented each of them with Rs10,000. Three of the fishermen belong to Zero Point in Badin while two hail from Chhachh Jahan Khan in the Jati taluka of Thatta district.

PFF chief Mohammad Ali Shah on the occasion urged the governments of both Pakistan and India to immediately release each other’s fishermen. He urged the government to clearly mark the border at Sir Creek, where a majority of fishermen were caught as they fished thinking they were in their own waters only to be picked up by the other country’s marine guards.

He said there were still over 130 Pakistani fishermen in the Indian jails and over 400 Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails waiting for their release and subsequent return home.

Regretting that the humane issue involving these fishermen was never discussed at meetings between high officials of both countries, he demanded that the matter be brought up on the agenda to be resolved immediately.