100 Indian fishermen released from Pakistan

[Lankan Ranger]

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100 Indian fishermen released from Pakistan

A group of 100 Indian fishermen was released from a jail in the southern port city of Karachi today as part of a move by Pakistani authorities to free 442 fishermen who have completed their prison terms.

The fishermen were released from Malir Jail this morning and set off for Lahore to be repatriated to India, prison officials said.

The fishermen are scheduled to cross over to India at the Wagah land border tomorrow. Pakistani authorities freed the first batch of 100 fishermen on August 30.

The third and fourth batches will be released on September 4 and 6.

All the fishermen were arrested for violating Pakistan's maritime boundary. A majority of them were held in prison for periods of up to three years even after completing prison terms ranging from six months to a year.

Most of them hail from the coastal state of Gujarat. The government ordered the release of 442 fishermen who had completed their prison terms after the NGOs Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research and Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum filed a case in the Supreme Court.

Former law minister Syed Iqbal Haider represented the petitioners in the Supreme Court.

At the last hearing of the case on August 26, the apex court asked the federal Interior Ministry to explain why 456 Indian fishermen were being held in jails in Sindh province even after they had completed their prison terms.

Pakistani NGOs and rights activists like Ansar Burney have asked the Indian government to reciprocate the release of the prisoners by freeing over 100 Pakistani fishermen currently being held in Indian jails.

Read more: 100 Indian fishermen released from Pak jail - India - The Times of India 100 Indian fishermen released from Pak jail - India - The Times of India

[NWO]

As the elite battle it out on each side, its the common man who suffers.

[BATMAN]

Who says Pak ministers have no good left in them?
They have all the goodness but only for Indian prisoner.

[EjazR]

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Daily Times - Last batch of fishermen released

KARACHI: The last batch comprising 141 of the 442 detained Indian fishermen left Karachi on Monday for the Wagah Border, Lahore where they would be handed over to the Indian authorities.

The fishermen, detained for violating the maritime boundary between Pakistan-India, were released following the Supreme Court’s orders on a petition filed by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF).

The released fishermen would travel to Lahore by a bus arranged by the Saiban International headed by Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid. They would stay at the South Asia Partnership (SAP) premises in Lahore and depart from the Wagah border to India on Tuesday (today).

Though the majority of Indian prisoners have been released, 14 fishermen are still waiting for freedom as the Indian High Commission is yet to confirm their nationality.

Former minister Iqbal Haider and senior advocate of the petitioners of the Indian detained fishermen, in a constitution petition pending in the Supreme Court of Pakistan has sought the intervention of the Indian High Commissioner for the verification of the nationality of the 14 prisoners in Malir Jail to ensure their early release.

Haider, Justice Zahid and PILER Executive Director Karamat Ali would be travelling to New Delhi to take up the issue of the confirmation of the nationalities and also to lobby for the release of the detained Pakistani fishermen in India.

The Supreme Court of India has already ordered their release but legal and bureaucratic hurdles have been obstructing the process.