25 Pakistanis return home after release from Indian jails via Wagah border

Twentyfive Pakistani fishermen returned home on Saturday after being released from Indian jails, crossing into Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border in Lahore, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said.

The prisoners crossed the border in the afternoon after completing immigration formalities and were handed over to Pakistani authorities. Pakistani mission officials facilitated the repatriation process and were present at the border.

“The Government of Pakistan will continue its efforts for the release and repatriation of all Pakistani citizens detained in Indian jails,” the high commission said.

Following their repatriation, the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society issued a statement congratulating the community on the release of the 25 fishermen, who it said hailed from Karachi and Thatta.

“The Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (FCS) extends heartfelt congratulations to the fishing community on the release of 25 Pakistani fishermen who had been imprisoned in Indian jails,” the statement said.

The FCS further expressed hope that “the released fishermen would return to their homes and families and resume their normal lives”.

FCS spokesperson Ghulam Rasool Sheikh told Dawn that the 25 fishermen had been handed over to the Punjab Rangers after their repatriation.

Earlier this month, in a letter addressed to the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF-India), the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) and the families of imprisoned fishermen urged both governments to immediately release and repatriate all imprisoned prisoners who have completed their sentences and their nationality had been verified by their respective governments.

The letter urged both governments to use the occasion of the Independence Day celebrations to demonstrate a shared commitment to humanity, justice, and the dignity of ordinary people by releasing the prisoners.

On July 1, Pakistan urged India to release and repatriate 97 Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentences. The prisoners included 33 fishermen, Foreign Office said at the time.

The statement came as part of an exchange of lists between the two countries in pursuance of the Agreement on Consular Access, 2008. The agreement requires both sides to share the lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January 1 and July 1, every year.

According to the latest available figures before Saturday’s repatriation, 198 Indian fishermen remained imprisoned in Pakistan, while 53 Pakistani fishermen were in Indian prisons. Many among them had continued to languish in prison years after completing their sentences.

The sentences of 10 Indian fishermen ended on July 16, 2021; 115 on March 16, 2022; 21 on November 17, 2022; 10 on January 31, 2023; and 22 on July 18, 2024.