KARACHI: The governments of Pakistan and India have been urged to immediately release and repatriate all imprisoned fishermen who have completed their sentences and their nationality had been verified by their respective governments.

In a letter addressed to the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF-India), the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) and the families of imprisoned fisherpeople urged them to use the occasion of the Independence Day celebrations to demonstrate a shared commitment to humanity, justice, and the dignity of ordinary people by releasing the prisoners.

According to the latest available figures, 198 Indian fisherpeople remain imprisoned in Pakistan, while 53 Pakistani fisherpeople remain in Indian prisons. Many among them have continued to languish in prison years after completing their sentences. The sentences of 10 Indian fisherpeople ended on July 16, 2021; 115 on March 16, 2022; 21 on November 17, 2022; 10 on January 31, 2023; and 22 on July 18, 2024.

“In all these cases, nationality verification was completed long ago,” the letter said, adding: “Both governments agree to release and repatriate persons within one month of confirmation of their national status and completion of sentences.”

“The continued detention of these fisherpeople, despite the completion of their sentences and confirmation of nationality, is neither legally nor morally defensible,” it added.

The organisations urged the Indian and Pakistani governments to “order the immediate and honourable release and repatriation of all fisherpeople who have completed their sentences and nationality verification; ensure that the provisions of the 2008 Consular Access Agreement are implemented in letter and spirit; fix accountability for the continued detention of prisoners in violation of the Agreement and establish mechanisms to prevent such delays in future”.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026