A delegation of fishermen from Saurashtra led by Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia, Union Ministers and MPs from the state met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues seeking effective steps to redress problems of jailed fishermen in India and Pakistan.
The ten-member delegation of fishermen along with leaders of Congress, representatives of Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) met Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar yesterday and Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid today.
The delegation included Union Ministers from Gujarat Dinsha J Patel and Tushar Chaudhary and Congress MPs Prabha Kishor Taviad, Alka Balram Kshotriya, Praveen Rashtrapal, Jagdish Thakor and Kunwarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavaliya.
They demanded a "No Arrest Policy", implementation of the interim recommendations of the India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on Prisoners and an agreement for fishing rights in a joint fishing zone.
They also sought unilateral and unconditional release of all Pakistani fishermen lodged in Indian jails, release of all Pakistani boats under Indian custody, centralised (national) Identity Cards for all fishermen who go to sea and a separate Fisheries Ministry.
They demanded that a high-level working group involving representatives from the fishing community should be constituted to monitor and prevent the arrest of fishermen and confiscation of the boats and facilitation of Indian and Pakistani fisher persons' delegations to go to the other country to survey the condition of their boats in the custody of the other country.
One of their key demands was arranging an urgent meeting of the Task Force consisting of Indian Coast Guard and Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency (MSA).
The delegation claimed that the Prime Minister responded to their demands positively.
"He (Singh) assured the team that efforts will be taken by the UPA government to release the Pakistani fisherpeople in Indian jails along with their boats – as early as possible. He suggested that he could only expect a reciprocal similar action from the Pakistan government," it said.
Agreeing that the fisherpeople are caught between the two South Asian conflicting neighbours, Singh asserted that his government would not leave any stone unturned to protect the lives and livelihood of fishermen of Saurashtra, the delegation said in a statement.
Singh also asked the delegation to meet Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to take forward demands specific to these ministries.
Talking to PTI, Gujarat Congress Chief Modhwadia said that currently around 800 Indian boats are lying seized in Pakistan while 175 Pakistani boats have been seized in Indian territory.
In December 2009, Pakistan had decided to unilaterally release 100 Indian fishermen languishing in jails and it was reciprocated from the Indian side as well.
Modhwadia said that while both countries have released the fishermen from each side, the boats continue to remain seized in each other's territory and the meeting aimed at solving the issue on a permanent basis.
"Besides we also sought financial assistance from the Prime Minister to those Indian fishermen, whose boats were seized by Pakistani authorities after 2006 as no financial assistance has come from the government side after that period," the Gujart PCC chief said.
Jivan Jungi, National Committee Member, PIPFPD on behalf of Akhil Gujarat Machhimar Mahamandal raised the issue of a fellow fisherman Naranbhai Sosa who was allegedly killed by Pakistan's MSA in October this year.
The delegation urged the PM to support the family of Sosa from the PM's Relief Fund.
The Prime Minister promised the delegation that the request for financial assistance to Sosa's family will be considered by the PMO and action will be taken.
The fishermen told the Prime Minister that the arrests by Indian Coastguards and MSA have increased manifold in the recent months since the monsoon trawl ban has been lifted in September.
"Hundreds have been arrested and put behind bars, most of them being Indian fishermen, now in Pakistani jails. At present, around 229 Indian fishermen and about 780 Indian boats are in the custody of Pakistan. In addition to this, 23 boats of Indian fishermen have been confiscated during the ongoing fishing season. Similarly, around 200 Pakistani fishermen and 150 Pakistani boats are with India," they said.