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Tales from the Jail
Diego Ibarra/4SEE
" after all these years of absence I hope to recover you, my son. Meanwhile, I delegate to you the responsibility of being the family head, "
The above quote is from Hussein's letter to his son, and is marked by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, but at the same time with hope to be be reunited with his son gives him new strength.
Hussein is a fisherman. He belongs to the District of Janjisar, at the port city of Karachi, Pakistan. He has been arrested for 11 years in Ahmedabad central prison, in Gujarat, India.
One morning in November 1999, Hussein was fishing with six fishermen, from the same family, in the disputed sea territory called Sir Creek. A violent storm threw their boat towards the neighboring country waters. After that, all these men were arrested by the Indian Patrol without any trial.
There are about 200 Pakistani fishermen arrested in Indian jails these days and, at the same time there are also 400 Indians in jails of Pakistan, according to the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PPF).
The bad relations between Islamabad and New Delhi have made the unlicensed fishing in foreign waters into a political issue with serious implications for families of detainees,. Officials from both countries are indifferent to this drama.
The Pakistani fishermen community, whose daily earnings are not more than six euros per day, are facing very hard situations that force them to leave in their small boats from the overexploited coast of Karachi to fish in Indian waters.
