Attari: Another batch of 100
Indian fishermen touched the Indian soil Friday after being freed by Pakistan.
It was the second batch of Indian fishermen who were set
freed from a jail in the southern port city of Karachi. The
first batch of 100 Indians was released at the Attari border
on August 31.
The 200 fishermen freed so far were part of the first
batch of 442 Indian fishermen being released by Pakistan after
rights activists fought a legal battle in the Supreme Court
there against their unlawful detention.
The fishermen, mostly from Gujarat, were arrested over
two years ago for allegedly straying into Pakistan's
territorial waters.
For them, they said a nightmare has ended as the
behaviour of jail officials there was awful towards them.
Tension writ large on their faces, as according to them
it would be tough to continue fishing with their costly boats still in possession of Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities issued orders for the release of
the 442 fishermen on August 28.
At the last hearing on August 26, the apex court asked
the federal interior ministry to explain why 456 Indian fishermen were held in several jails in Sindh even after they had completed their prison terms.
The third batch of 101 prisoners will leave for India on
September 4 while the last batch of 141 prisoners will leave
on September 6.
PTI
First Published: Friday, September 03, 2010, 19:57