The Fight To Release Detained Fishermen From India and Pakistan

Hundreds of fishermen straying into disputed waters in Sir Creek are arrested each year. Activists are collaborating across the India–Pakistan border to bring them home.

“I’ll never forget the shock when that Pakistani boat came and took us in,” Dharmesh, a 28-year-old from Gujarat’s Somnath district, recalled. He was on a fishing boat in what he thought were Indian waters, in September 2020. Pakistani security officers “got on board and started shouting and swearing, tying our hands. They kept asking why we were in their waters. We were feeling lost, confused, didn’t even know where we were.” 

After that, “they kept us locked away for five days before taking us to court in the city.” That would be Dharmesh’s last view of the outside world for three years.

When he worked as a cook on the boat, Dharmesh said, he earned INR 12,000 per month — roughly USD 157 at the time. Now he was unemployed, but he vowed never to go back to sea again. 

India and Pakistan share a heavily guarded land border. But the two countries’ maritime border, in the Arabian Sea, has remained undefined for over 70 years. At the heart of the issue is a zone some 96 kilometres (60 miles, or 52 nautical miles) long, where the coasts of the Indian state of Gujarat and the Pakistani province of Sindh meet. This disputed area is called Sir Creek. 

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Pakistan claims the entire area based on the Bombay Government Resolution of 1914, while India insists on using the Thalweg principle, which would divide the creek neatly along the navigable channel’s middle during high tide. If the Thalweg principle is applied, Pakistan would lose a significant stretch of territory that has historically been part of Sindh — including several thousand square kilometres of its Exclusive Economic Zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

Both sides have designated a no-fishing zone in the disputed area. In the event of a breach, an Indian can be arrested by Pakistan’s coast guards and vice versa. Sir Creek happens to be a coveted fishing destination for hundreds of fishermen from both India and Pakistan. In their pursuit of bountiful catch, many boats have inadvertently crossed invisible boundaries, leading to the arrests of thousands of poor fishermen over the decades. 

In 2023, almost 500 Indian fishermen held in Pakistani prisons for years on charges of illegal fishing along the disputed International Maritime Boundary Line were released. While the release itself made headlines, less discussed was how these fishermen gained their freedom. Journalists and activists from both India and Pakistan came together to advocate for the fishermen, providing essential aid and access to resources. Their efforts proved successful where traditional diplomatic efforts had faltered. 

Since the late 1980s, Veljibhai Kanjibhai Masani, a social worker from Gujarat’s Junagadh district, has been a beacon of hope for fishermen detained by Pakistan. His towering frame commands respect in coastal villages near the border. In December 2023, I travelled with him to visit the villages of Una, Kotda, Dhamlej, Diu and Veraval. We wove through narrow lanes, meeting fishermen who had just returned from across the border and the anxious families of those still imprisoned in Karachi, yearning for word of their loved ones. In each village, our arrival was an event, with villagers gathering as Masani took charge, arranging interviews with a blend of authority and empathy that drew everyone into sharing their stories. The villagers referred to him as “brother” and thanked him for his unwavering efforts. It was clear that many families were pinning their hopes on him as they relayed their tales.

Today, Masani is the national president of the All India Fishermen Association. He recalled the complexities of the bureaucratic procedures involved in securing the release of people like Dharmesh. In that process, the people whose stories he hears in the villages are reduced to mere files, to be chased down and traced across borders. 

“The boat owner tells us the details and informs us that our fishermen are arrested in Pakistan,” Masani said. “Their file can take up to a week or ten days to be processed, sometimes even a month. Once the file is ready, we send it to the fisheries department. Then it takes another one to two months to send the file to the ministry of external affairs in Delhi.” The ministry then verifies the identities of the fishermen with the home department. “After that, the file is sent to Pakistan. Then, Pakistan sends us a confirmation. We keep running after these files.”

My interview with Masani was briefly interrupted by a call from a family member of an arrested fisherman asking for an update on his situation. Masani responded in Gujarati, offering words of encouragement and asking for patience. 

As we zipped along the coastal highways of Gujarat after a full day of interviewing fishermen and their families, Masani turned to me to say, with a mixture of hope and despair in his voice, that they did what they could to help stranded fishermen on both sides. In this, he said, they rely on the support of organisations like the Pakistan–India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). 

“We have the Pakistan–India People’s Forum, where we collaborate with NGOs in India and Pakistan to maintain healthy relationships and support each other,” Masani said. “Through this, we meet Pakistani fishermen and help them talk to their families. This was more common before Covid. When Indian fishermen are released, they share information about their well-being with us.” 

Such exchange between the people of the two hostile countries is otherwise unusual, but when it comes to fishermen it is not. Masani recalled a time when Indian and Pakistani fishermen who met at sea would exchange small gifts like biscuits and cigarettes. He added that the good relations between fisher communities on both sides of the border continue even as hostilities between the two countries have escalated. 

The PIPFPD brings together a wide spectrum of civil society activists from both countries — human rights activists, cultural workers, feminist groups, lawyers, teachers, businessmen and more — with a mission to bridge divides and promote peace. The group’s inaugural joint declaration took shape in September 1994 in Lahore. Today, the PIPFPD remains a leading advocate for the rights and freedoms of fishermen caught in the crossfire of strained relations between India and Pakistan. 

Across the border, Saeed Baloch works with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, a Karachi-based non-profit. He also emphasised the pivotal role of the PIPFPD as a forum for collaboration. “Our main way of spreading awareness has been through the Pakistan–India Forum,” he said over the phone. “Despite our efforts to bring people together for meetings, communication between the two countries is often difficult and remains a challenge.” The PIPFPD is marked by a commitment to transparency in all its work, in stark contrast to the secrecy that often marks interactions between Indian and Pakistani diplomats. “Every two months, we meet to talk about the problems faced by detained fishermen and write letters to the authorities to try and help them.”

The PIPFPD is far from the only organisation working in this field. The Edhi Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded in 1951 in Pakistan, aids prisoners in dire circumstances in different jails. It also now facilitates the repatriation of Indian fishermen held in Pakistan, including by providing them with essential supplies and money and helping them with travel to the border. If a fisherman passes away while in Pakistani custody, the Edhi Foundation also aids in the cold storage of the body so that it can be returned home. 

The Edhi Foundation’s work goes beyond just the immediate logistics of repatriation. It also runs advocacy campaigns to raise awareness about the issues faced by fishermen, which has included organising seminars and protests as well as writing to relevant authorities in both countries. For repatriations, the foundation has found ways to overcome the red tape at the India–Pakistan border, collaborating closely with similar organisations in Pakistan to provide legal aid to arrested fishermen. 

But the going is slow, particularly when tensions are high between both countries. “Unfortunately, it is the common people who bear the brunt of these challenges,” Saeed Baloch said. 

JATIN DESAI, a 68-year-old activist and journalist from Mumbai, possesses a vigour most people his age would envy. Dressed in a khadi kurta and faded blue jeans, he sat comfortably on the floor of his one-bedroom apartment in the Indian financial capital, surrounded by the documents of people held in Pakistan whom he hopes to help return home.

“The families are desperate to get their loved ones back,” he said, exasperated. “Before Covid, there was some communication, but now it’s mostly stopped. There are various provisions that allow relatives of people in prison to meet their family members, but in case of India and Pakistan this is very difficult.” 

“I have written to authorities in Pakistan as well as India to find a way like video conferencing to help them talk to their family members,” he continued. “If we are worried that they may pass some information, we can do it under supervision of authorities on both sides. Why can’t we do this?” 

Desai first visited Karachi in 2003, as a delegate for PIPFPD. “At that time, I saw that fishermen in Karachi were facing problems similar to those in Mumbai,” he said. “In a place called Ibrahim Hyderi, I learnt about Pakistani fishermen being held in India and Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails.” He realised “that if we want to promote friendship and people-to-people contact between these two countries, then we need to pick up the issues that directly affect common people.” He started work on the release of fishermen in 2005 as the general secretary of the PIPFPD’s India chapter — a position he quit when he turned 65. 

Desai attributed the significant progress on releases to the sustained efforts of his counterparts in Pakistan. He particularly acknowledged the contributions of Rabiya Jhaveri Agha, the chairperson of Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR). “She took a lot of initiative this year to ensure the release of our fishermen,” he said.

Working in collaboration with the Karachi-based non-profit Legal Aid Society, the NCHR spotlights the struggles of fishermen in Pakistan and calls on both governments to adhere to national and international standards when detaining them. The NCHR developed a policy brief recommending urgent measures for repatriating foreign fishermen on humanitarian grounds so as to ease the strain on prison resources. The brief called for long-term solutions and urged the Pakistan government to fill vacant seats in the Indo-Pak Joint Judicial Committee, an official body of retired judges from both countries formed to aid in the release of cross-border civilian prisoners. Additionally, the commission sent a letter to the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India seeking assistance in the return of Pakistani fishermen from Indian jails. The letter reportedly remained unanswered. 

Jhaveri claimed that the NCHR’s advocacy helped to not only secure the release of hundreds of fishermen but also change an earlier policy of strict adherence to reciprocity. However, she worried that the Indian government is yet to uphold its end of the bargain. “Earlier the policy was that if we release ten, India should also send back ten fishermen,” she said. “Instead, the government decided to release the fishermen in three batches, with 100 to 200 fishermen in each batch. We’re grateful for the large-scale releases but remain concerned about India’s inability to free Pakistani fishermen.” True cooperation, she emphasised, “means both sides taking reciprocal steps for regular releases, without relying on the commission’s involvement.” 

Masani noted that the number of Pakistani prisoners in India is considerably lower than that of Indian prisoners in Pakistan, making equal exchanges difficult. Given the number of detainees, “if we release ten, it means we’ve released 20 to 30 percent,” he said. “However, they have over 100 fishermen. That’s also a factor. We’ve recommended releasing all Pakistani fishermen, but to maintain pressure on their government, we have to retain these people.”

Even as increasing numbers of fishermen are released, the number of fishermen arrested also continues to rise. Masani attributed the growing number of arrests by India to changes in sea conditions due to global warming. Rising temperatures have caused fish to move deeper into the ocean, he said, away from the coast where the water has also warmed up. Deeper waters off the Sindh coast, along with abundant coastal mangroves, result in higher concentrations of fish there. This, combined with the short fishing window from August to March, pushes Indian fishermen to concentrate their efforts in this area. But that also means they run the risk of being arrested. 

“Ideally, why can’t we have a no-arrest policy?” Desai asked. “If we see a Pakistani boat, why don’t we send them back? They can always seize the catch or release it in the sea. But what is the point of arresting a poor fisherman? You shouldn’t play with the lives of these poor fishermen and their families.” 

Baloch echoed Desai’s sentiments and urged the governments on both sides to not treat poor fishermen like criminals. “To date, no fisherman who was arrested has proved to be a criminal or a suspect,” he said. “Therefore, both the governments should sign an agreement to refrain from arresting each other’s fishermen. They should instead direct them to their own side without resorting to jail or boat arrest.”

Fishermen on both sides are impoverished, and their families suffer greatly upon their arrest. Arrests, and the resulting economic losses, often lead to young children being taken out of school or forced into begging, Baloch said. 

Rashiben, aged 50, whose 18-year-old son was arrested on his first voyage to sea as a fisherman, is an example. Today, the family endures economic pressures as they await his return to Una village in Gujarat. “I have one daughter who is married and two sons at home,” Rashiben said. “One of my sons is 15 years old and doesn’t go to school. We don’t have the money to pay for his studies. Our only source of income is the money we get from the government.” 

Gujarat’s state government offers INR 300 per day to the families of arrested fishermen while they do time in Pakistani prisons. But “8000 or 9000 rupees per month is not enough to pay for day-to-day expenses,” Rashiben lamented. “So I borrow money to survive. I have a debt of about 1.5 lakh rupees. When my son comes back, he will earn and pay all the people back.” 

Desai said that when fishermen are arrested, often it leads to their families being destroyed. He added that the foreign ministries on both sides frequently use one particular word when describing arrested fishermen — they say that the fishermen strayed into disputed waters “inadvertently.” “So when you accept that they are crossing the border inadvertently, then why are they being kept for so many years?” he asked. “It is a vicious circle.” Desai argued that the arrest of fishermen is more to do with hostile relations between countries than the breach of the International Maritime Boundary Line. 

Baloch, who actively advocates for the release of fishermen on both sides, hailed the advent of new technology that has eased communication across borders. “In recent years, digital platforms have become crucial in facilitating this crossborder collaboration,” he said. “We communicate through emails, WhatsApp groups, and hold monthly Zoom meetings for information exchange and coordinated action.” These sustained efforts have seen more detained fishermen released by both sides — but especially by Pakistan, Baloch noted. Yet many challenges persist.

Some fishermen find themselves stuck in limbo across the border even after completing their sentences as their nationalities remain unverified, meaning they cannot be repatriated. The process to verify nationality is meant to begin as soon as a person is arrested. In 2008, India and Pakistan signed an agreement that stipulates that both governments will provide consular access within three months to any citizens of the other country who are under arrest, in detention or imprisoned in their respective territories. The agreement also specifies that, following the confirmation of nationality, both governments should release and repatriate individuals within one month of the completion of their sentences.

In compliance with the agreement, both governments share a list of prisoners from across the border on 1 July and 1 January every year. As per a press release by India’s ministry of external affairs at the start of 2024, Pakistan had 184 Indian fishermen and 47 civilian prisoners under detention, while India had shared a list of 337 Pakistani fishermen and 81 civilian prisoners in its custody. (Civilian prisoners include those serving sentences for minor offences, and includes fishermen who strayed across the border or who committed a minor offence after crossing the border.)

Desai explained that while the agreement mandates that arrested fishermen receive consular access within three months, there is no specified time limit for verifying a detainee’s nationality. As a result, many prisoners spend years in prison awaiting verification. “Even upon completion of their sentences” in India, he said, “Pakistan will not accept them until their nationality is verified.” 

There is no specified time limit for their detention either. “These fishermen should be sentenced to six months for border violation as per the Foreigners Act,” Desai said. “However, trials can be prolonged, especially during ongoing rifts between both parties. Common people bear the brunt of this.”

Advocacy groups on both sides of the border have been working together to stay in touch with key government organs, including each country’s foreign and home ministries. They also communicate with the Pakistan high commission in India and the Indian high commission in Pakistan. Press conferences have been organised in both India and Pakistan to urge the countries’ respective prime ministers to release detained fishermen unconditionally. 

For the continued success of repatriation efforts, it is key to follow the agreement “in letter and spirit,” as the Joint Judicial Committee observed in 2013. Yet key mechanisms that would otherwise expedite repatriation have been left inactive. 

IN 2008, a Joint Judicial Committee mechanism was established to aid the release and transfer of fishermen. “I knew some people in this committee who were working on this issue very diligently,” Desai recalled. The committee, which comprises four retired judges from each country, recommended providing consular access to prisoners four times a year: in February, May, August and November. Established in 2007, the committee met twice annually until its last meeting in India in October 2013.

The Indian and Pakistani judges met with prisoners from their respective countries in jails across the border once a year. Three jails in India and Pakistan were notified of these arrivals, Desai explained. “A lot of things were accomplished due to this committee,” he said. “For example, if someone was unwell, we would find out immediately and could take action. Whether consular access was granted or not was also determined. They could act quickly on this information.” If there were any legal issues, “the committee was able to address them as well. This committee was doing a phenomenal job and was acknowledged by parliament as well.”

But the committee abruptly ceased functioning in 2013. “No one knows what happened,” Desai said. “The next meeting that was to be held in Pakistan never happened because no invitation came and there was no communication from both sides.” In 2018, both governments decided that the committee must be revived. India nominated four judges, Desai said, but Pakistan did not nominate anyone. 

“We asked our colleagues to demand that Pakistan should nominate their judges too,” Desai said. But Pakistan has not nominated new judges to date.

According to a 2021 news report, a Pakistan foreign office spokesperson stated that the “Pakistan–India Judicial Committee on Prisoners is currently dormant.” Another news report last year said that, of the four judges initially appointed from Pakistan’s side, only one remains alive, and even that judge is in poor health. Meanwhile, in India, a recent public-interest litigation case filed by Masani seeking the revival of the Joint Judicial Committee was dismissed by the country’s Supreme Court, which ruled that the matter was of a political nature and so not within its remit.

Rabiya Jhaveri Agha, the chairperson of the NCHR in Pakistan, said that a systematic process is vital to secure the timely release of prisoners. “Both governments need to revive and maintain the agreement by replacing judges who die or retire,” she emphasised. “A proper agreement is required to protect the rights of fishermen, especially as they represent a vulnerable and poor community.” 

After the discontinuation of the committee, arrested fishermen and their families have had to grapple with years of imprisonment as well as a lack of information and communication. Activists representing the fishermen have implored the Indian and Pakistani governments to reinstate communication channels. 

“No one in our family knew anything about us,” Dharmesh recalled from his time in jail. “It is as if their family member is dead. There is no communication whatsoever.”  Desai said that before the Covid pandemic hit, there was at least some form of official communication between the two sides. But, since then, this practice has stopped. “Whatever communication exists now is informal,” he explained. “There should be an official line of communication. Now that everything’s back to normal, why not allow communication?”

When I visited the village of Una with Masani, Dharmesh joined around 80 other fishermen who had been released just before the festival of Diwali. Sitting cross-legged on the floor in a boys’ school that had long since closed for the day, Dharmesh lifted his trouser legs to show us black spots on his skin — scars left behind from insect bites when he was in prison in Karachi. His face and hands also still bear scars from that time. 

“We shared a hall with 200 other prisoners,” he said. “People were really sick there. We spent our nights scratching ourselves because it itched so much. No one should have to go through that.” 

The moment Dharmesh returned home, he informed other families about their brothers, sons and husbands who had been in prison with him and were still incarcerated. “We know what it’s like,” he said. “We spent three years in that prison. All we want is for those who are still there to be released. Four or five of them are so ill that they could die any day,” he says. Despite the hardship he had faced, Dharmesh was happy to be home. He urged me to write his story in the hope that others could return home too. 

At the time of writing, hundreds of fishermen on both sides of the border wait in hope. 

Jamaima Afridi contributed additional reporting for this piece from Sindh, Pakistan.