VANNALLI, KUMTA : Family members of 18 Indian fishermen, who are confined by Iran, are a worried lot. For the last two months, some of them have been kept under boat arrest and others have been sent to jail by Iranian officials. Their family members in Uttara Kannada, who do not have any idea about the external world, have become helpless.
All 18 people from Kumta and Bhatkal taluks are basically fishermen. They went to Dubai for fishing job and were earning a good income. A few of them have been working in Dubai for a decade. They are the only bread earners of their families. Of the confined, Yakub Ismail Shamali, Inayath Kadir Shamali, Kashim Ismail Shaikh and Ibrahim Ahmed Hodekar are from Vannalli in Kumta. With the dream of giving good education, they enrolled their children in English medium schools in Kumta. After their arrest, they are not sending money to their families.
Mumtaz, wife of Yakub Ismail Shamali, said she has four children and of them, three are studying in a private English medium school. Within two-three weeks, their second half-year fees are to be paid, but she does not have any money. “I pray to god for my husband’s safe release. Only then we can do something for the education of our children,” she added.
Farida, wife of Kashim Ismail Shaikh, said her husband was arrested and has been in jail in Iran for the last one-and-a-half months. She spoke to her husband on the day of Bakrid on August 22. After that, she could not contact him following his arrest.
Farida has three children and two of them are studying in school. As she has no money, she is worried about the education expenses of her kids. Like Mumtaz and Farida, others also have three-four children and are worried about their husbands and the future of their children.