Islamabad, Oct 1 (IANS): With fishermen inadvertently trespassing and getting caught, it's high time India and Pakistan tackle the issue of maritime boundary demarcation, a leading daily said Monday.
An editorial in the Dawn said the plight of Pakistani and Indian fishermen who stray into each other's waters is "usually as predictable as the ocean currents that buoy up their boats".
"They are arrested by maritime security agencies and thrown into prison from where, often after several years, groups of them are released from time to time in 'goodwill gestures'," it said.
The daily highlighted the story of Nawaz Ali, the fisherman who died recently in an Indian hospital, and said his case "was different for a number of reasons, and not only because he never saw the light of freedom after his arrest".
"For one, Nawaz Ali and three of his relatives had been missing since 1999 after their boat was caught in a cyclone while they were out fishing. But it was more than a decade later that his family learnt they were alive and incarcerated in India. Secondly, news of Nawaz Ali's death Sep 8 was conveyed to the Pakistan High Commission by the Indian authorities well over two weeks later, after which his family was informed," it said.
The editorial said that according to an agreement pertaining to cross-border prisoners, news of the death of a foreign prisoner must be conveyed immediately to the relevant high commission and his body sent to his home country within one month.
"It must be asked not only why immediate notification was not made in this instance, but also why Nawaz Ali's family was kept in the dark about their relatives' imprisonment for so long," the daily said.
The editorial described as a welcome move, the release Friday of 46 Pakistani fishermen by India.
"It is also high time that India and Pakistan tackled the issue of maritime boundary demarcation, the lack of which plays a big part in inadvertent trespass by fishermen on both sides.
"While relaxed visa regimes for businessmen and tourists are all very well, the plight of some of the most impoverished members of society must not be given short shrift," it stressed.