Two fishermen in Andhra Pradesh send SoS to kin from Pakistan jail

SRIKAKULAM: Twenty-two fishermen from Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, who were captured by Pakistani Coast Guard for venturing into their waters on the night of November 28 last year, want their family members to take up the issue of their release from the Pakistan prison with elected representatives. “Take our issue to the notice of our MLA, MP and the Chief Minister, whenever he visits our district,’’ two of the fishermen, who have been lodged in a Karachi prison, have written to their family members in K Matsalesam of Etcherla mandal.

The family members were plunged into grief after receiving the letters on Thursday. They, however, felt a little bit relieved learning from the letters that the captured fishermen from the two districts were safe and not being subjected to ill-treatment by the prison authorities.

The 22 fishermen were apprehended and their boats - Kajal, Kusum and Annapurna - seized when they were fishing in the Arabian sea near Veraval in Gujarat.Ganagalla Rama Rao, one of the captured fishermen, in his letter to his wife Nukamma, who was  seven months pregnant at the time of his capture, said: “I am fine here and hope all of you are fine there. Take care of the two children. In the photostat copy of the ration card I carried, my name is not clearly visible. Send photostat copies of the ration card and Aadhaar along with your letter next time.’’

In the letter, Rama Rao asked his in-laws also to take care of his children. He mentioned the names of some villagers and asked them to take up the issue of their release from Pakistan jail with the local MLA, MP and also the Chief Minister.

Kesam Yerraiah, another fisherman from the same village, in his letter to his parents, Kesam Lakshmana Rao and Lakshmi, also reiterated the same points and urged them to “put pressure on the government to get us released.’’ Stating they were fine, they, however, complained that they were not getting postcards frequently enough to write home. “Getting one or two postcards in the prison is very difficult,’’ they lamented. About 22 fishermen from K Matsalesam, D Matsalesam, Totapalem of Etcherla mandal, Dammalaveedhi of Srikakulam from Srikakulam district and Tippavalasa of Vizianagaram were apprehended by Pakistan officials after they accidentally entered into its territorial waters on November 28, last year. Of the 22, five are from Tippavalasa of Vizianagaram district while 15 are from Srikakulam district.

The address of the two other fishermen is yet to be found. “I went into a state of depression after receiving the letter from my husband. I could not eat since morning,’’ said Nukamma, wife of Rama Rao. On coming to know about the letter, the relatives in the village of the fishermen languishing in the Pakistan jail as well as from the surrounding areas trooped to Nukamma’s house. “Though they said they were fine, we could not trust the contents of the letter. We have written two letters, but they have never reached them,’’ she said. “We also sent the documents they wanted along with earlier letters. As political leaders as well as officials have been busy with elections for the last two months, no one bothered about our pain,” she rued. Nukamma said that they would stage a protest if the government fails to take action on the issue in the next few days.