HE most helpless, poor and frequent casualty of India and Pakistan`s extended antagonism are the fishermen who stray across the countries` maritime borders. As per media reports, Pakistan is likely to release 200 Indian fishermen today through the Wagah border as a goodwill gesture. But even if that takes place, it would benefit only a fraction of this incarcerated populace. A recent report in this newspaper puts the number of fishermen who have served their sentences in Indian and Pal
Both states must discard their decades-old pattern of entrapment and imprisonment of these men, a majority of whom are illiterate and therefore unaware of the India-Pakistan International Maritime Boundary and the bilateral dispute of Sir Creek, a region they often unknowingly sail into. The two countries must devise a system that warns straying boats to maintain a distance from these borders. The tide has to turn in favour of empathy for impoverished anglers and their families so that inadvertent crossovers can be prevented and if caught, consular access and legal aid must be swiftly provided and repatriation done quickly. However, the priority should be to protect them from the subcontinent`s tortuous legal systems. Sending prisoners home should be more than an annual symbol of amity.