Congress MP from Gujarat Shakti Singh Gohil on Wednesday in Rajya Sabha raised the issue of fishermen languishing in Pakistan jails.
Gohil said, “Gujarat maritime borders are with Pakistan and the Marines of Pakistan arrests the fishermen and their boats and puts them in jail. There are 400 fishermen and 1,100 vessels in Pakistan captivity.”
He requested the government ‘to do something for the release of the fishermen and vessels in Pakistan’. He also demanded an increase in the patrolling by the Indian forces to stop the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (MSA) to nab the fishermen.
As per reports India and Pakistan exchanged a list of prisoners in 2020. According to it, 270 Indian fishermen and 54 civilians are in Pakistan’s prisons. Out of these, around 100 Indian fishermen have already completed their sentences and their nationality has also been confirmed.
The fishing boats are also confiscated when the men are arrested. These boats are their primary source of livelihood. More than 1,000 fishing boats of Indian fishermen have been confiscated by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency.
–IANS
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