Three Pakistani fishermen languishing in Indian jails since December 2018 reached Karachi in the early hours of Wednesday morning from Lahore by Shalimar Express.
The fishermen — Hasan Ramzan, Juman Ramzan and Wattoo Mohammed — all of whom originally hail from Keti Bandar had reached Lahore via the Wagah border on June 28 but they had been put into quarantine for two weeks as per Covid-19 standard operating procedures.
Touching scenes with tears of joy were also witnessed as they embraced their family members who had come to receive them at the Cantonment Railway Station.
They were welcomed with garlands and presented with cash by officials of the Fishermen Cooperative Society.
The fishermen said that they were busy catching fish in Pakistan waters on that fateful day in December 2018 when they were approached by an Indian Navy boat that had quietly crossed over to the Pakistani side and which abducted them and took them to India where they were jailed for over two-and-a-half years.
They said they were kept hungry for days in Indian jails.
The Indian jail authorities also used to beat them.
FCS manager Shaukat Hussain told the media present on the occasion that the fishermen of both Pakistan and India belonged to a downtrodden group of society. They were not terrorists or spies as they were suspected to be by the officials who arrested them at sea.
2021, Dawn