Eleven Fishermen Freed From Indian Jails Reunite With Families in Karachi
Eleven Pakistani fishermen, jailed in India for between three and a half and nine years, reunited with their families in Karachi on Friday morning. The Pakistani fishermen released India had handed over through the Wagah Border by Indian authorities some two months ago, and the Edhi Foundation brought them from Lahore to Karachi by ambulance.
They arrived at 11:30am at the Edhi Centre near Merewether Tower. The reunion closed years of separation caused by boats drifting across the maritime border while fishing.
Pakistani fishermen released India after years in jail
Kamal Hassan Bengali of Machhar Colony spent eight years in an Indian jail. He returned to meet family members he had never seen, including his eight-year-old niece Areeba, whom he held close at the reunion. His joy carried a loss: his mother died on the day his boat was captured by the Indian coast guard, and he learned of her death only through a letter that reached him three years later.
Kamal said his boat suffered an engine failure and drifted towards Indian waters. In the eight years of his absence, all seven of his brothers and his sister married. His sister Manzoora said the duty of finding him a match now fell on her shoulders. “I will get him married soon now that he is back home,” she said.
Noor Nabi Bengali, also of Machhar Colony, travelled on the same boat as Kamal. He recalled poor food in captivity, saying the lentils and plain rice, or potato and cauliflower curry, would sometimes stink because it had gone bad.
Khamiso Siddiq Mallah from Shah Bandar spent almost four years in Indian captivity. Now 60, he said he had no intention of returning to fishing. “I will become a labourer, but I will never go back to sea,” he said.
Abdul Rehman of Korangi spent nine years in jail. Asked the name of his boat, he said he did not remember it. “I only remember the horrible jail food and the lonely days I spent behind bars in India,” he said. He added that the attitude of the jail staff towards Pakistanis never let him forget for a minute that he was in an enemy country.
Mehboob Ali Mullah of Badin, jailed for three and a half years, said he could not wait to see his three children in his village. Basheer of Machhar Colony said he only knew how to fish, so he could not stop entirely, but he planned to fish in Balochistan, which does not touch the Indian border. He also planned to eat well to regain the 70 pounds he said he lost in Indian jail.
More than 70 fishermen still behind bars
The reunion also drew families still waiting. Saleem Sabro from Thatta has searched for his missing fisherman brother for five years. He comes to each homecoming to check whether his brother Ahmed Ali might be among the released men. A fisherman released last year told him Ahmed Ali was in a jail in Ahmedabad. Sabro said he had contacted the Pakistan Embassy in Delhi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ansar Burney Trust about his brother.
“He served his sentence two years ago, but still he has not returned home,” Sabro said. In the meantime, he has arranged the marriages of his brother’s two daughters and found an apprenticeship with a motor mechanic for his brother’s young son.
Fatima Majeed Motani, chairperson of the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society, said more than 70 Pakistani fishermen who unknowingly crossed over to India remain behind bars there. Their cases show why Friday’s reunion, warm as it was, covers only part of a much older problem. Fishermen from both countries keep getting arrested after crossing an invisible maritime line, often because of engine failure or rough weather, and then wait years for release and repatriation.
The handover through Wagah two months ago and the Edhi Foundation’s road journey to Karachi completed the latest chapter. For Kamal, the chapter ends with a niece he met for the first time and a sister planning his wedding. For families like Sabro’s, the wait continues.
The original report was published by Dawn.
How many Pakistani fishermen were released?
Eleven fishermen were reunited with their families in Karachi on Friday, October 30, 2026.
