Gir Somnath: A 35-year-old fisherman from Gujarat, awaiting repatriation from a Pakistani prison, passed away in a Karachi jail earlier this month.

It is learnt that Jagdish Mangal Bamaniya, hailing from Nanavada village in Kodinar taluka of Gir Somnath district, passed away in Malir prison on August 6. The cause of his death remains a mystery, and despite two weeks having passed since his demise, there is no information regarding the repatriation of his remains to India.

The group of 100 fishermen, including the deceased, was initially slated for release from Pakistan in the previous month. However, their release was postponed indefinitely due to undisclosed reasons.

The information came after activist Jatin Desai’s appeal to Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister, Anwarul Haq Kakar, urging the release and repatriation of all Indian fishermen who have completed their prison terms in Pakistan. Desai is the former general secretary of the Indian branch of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD).

In an email to Kakar, Desai expressed his concern over the delayed release of the Indian fishermen. He also highlighted that if the batch of 100 fishermen had been released in July, as originally announced in May, “Bamaniya might still be alive today.” Pakistan had repatriated 398 Indian fishermen between May and June of the current year. DeshGujarat