KARACHI: “No we don’t show Pakistan-India cricket matches on the big screen anymore. Last time’s experience was enough to teach us a lesson. The Indian and local prisoners almost came to blows. Show of such kind of sentiments are not good for our jail,” said deputy superintendent of District Jail Malir Mohammad Hassan Sehto while releasing some 172 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture from Pakistan on the occasion of the Pakistan-India clash in the World Cup on Sunday. “Still there are TV sets in the barracks, where they are free to watch.”

But the fishermen being released said they couldn’t watch the match as they had been taken out of the barracks early. There were no surprises when all said they were hoping for India’s win. And would any of them be betting on India winning the World Cup again? Jagdish Magan, being released after one year in prison for violating Pakistan waters smiled. “Life at sea is also like a gamble. This time I lost and ended up behind bars here. I think that is enough gambling for me to bet on matches, too,” he philosophised.

Imran Ilyas, the only Muslim in the 172 going back home, though not really a cricket fan, was happy that it became the reason for his release. “I thank the Pakistan government for its bigheartedness. I also thank the jail authorities here for treating us well,” he said while admitting that being Muslim he got some special benefits from the jail staff. “Well, I didn’t have to do too much hard work and was only required to serve to the B-class inmates. I also got special treats in the shape of paan and cigarettes from the jail staff.”

‘We try to take good care of them as they are not criminals but poor fishermen after all’

Imran also said he was a good cook specialising in biryani and wouldn’t have minded it if he had also been asked to cook food here. Asked if he was the cook on his boat, Pateshwan Kapa, that was captured by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency a year back, he sadly shook his head. “No, Deva Manda, who died from a heart attack here two months back, was in charge of cooking on our boat,” he said.

Meanwhile, fisherman Ramesh Sehba said he made friends with a Pakistani man who used to visit his brother doing time in prison here. “We met in the meeting room here to hit it off almost immediately. Later, when he came to meet his brother, he’d ask for me also and bring me some treats as well. His name is Shahzad and I hope to keep in touch with him from India, too,” he said.

Another fisherman being released was Jayant Bhika. It was his second time here. “Earlier, when I was caught I was only a little boy and spent time in your juvenile facility. That was 10 years ago. This time when I was caught again 16 months back, I was also hoping to meet the prison staff I had made friends with back then. But I am a young man now and too old for the Karachi Youthful Offenders Industrial School. From Malir Jail I wrote back home to inform my family that I had been caught again, and my parents, though worried, knew that I would be fine and return to them soon,” he shared.

Among the ones going home were also father and son — Haja Veera and Narain Haja. Narain, the son, lacked the sense of hearing and the ability to speak and could communicate though sign language only.

There were two brothers, Nursi Deva and Ramesh Deva, glad that both their names had been announced for release together. “If they had only announced that one of us was being released, it would have been very painful to leave behind the other. We found out last week that we were going home and we were so happy. This one week passed like one year,” said Nursi, the younger of the two.

Prison clerk Amir Baig, while helping the fishermen line up according to the numbers assigned to them, was speaking to them in Gujarati. “Well, working here and dealing with them on a day-to-day basis, we also get to learn something,” he said.

According to deputy superintendent Sehto, there are still 349 Indian inmates remaining after the release of these 172. “We try to take good care of them as they are not criminals but poor fishermen after all,” he said while getting ready to say farewell to the ones going home.

The Edhi Foundation arranged for the fishermen to leave for Lahore by the Allama Iqbal Express from the Karachi Cantonment railway station on Sunday afternoon. Reaching Lahore on Monday, they will be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah border.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2015

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