The government of Pakistan freed 20 Indian fishermen as a sign of goodwill from the Malir District Prison. The fishermen have returned to their homeland with nothing but good memories from Pakistan.
Indian fisherman Gir Somnath on his release from prison said, “We were arrested at sea by the Pakistan Coast Guard for crossing over to Pakistan waters in November 2018. At the time we prepared ourselves for the worst. But our 14 months in jail has helped clear all misconceptions about this country we used to see as our enemy earlier.”
“Whatever we used to hear in the news about Pakistan seemed like a piece of fiction while we were in prison here,” he added.
Speaking further, the fisherman said, “We are taking back with us good memories of Malir jail. We never felt like we were in another country here. The jail staff was nice to us. They told us that they knew that we were here due to our ill fate. We were not real criminals so they were not treating us as such while providing us with all kinds of facilities.”
The Indian fishermen, most of whom belong to the
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, were handed over to the Edhi Foundation by the
jail police. They boarded the train to Lahore from the Cantonment Railway
Station.
Meanwhile, 199 Indian prisoners including 189 fishermen and 10 civilians are still in jails in Pakistan.
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