Latest news with #MehranAliShah
Express Tribune
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PFF calls for release of fishermen from India
The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) has announced, it will raise voice for the release of Pakistani fishermen imprisoned in India. Chairman of the forum, Mehran Ali Shah is expected to hold a press conference soon to unveil a comprehensive action plan in this regard. According to the organisation, as many as 100 innocent Pakistani fishermen are currently held in Indian jails under allegations of violating maritime boundaries. The PFF demands their immediate release on humanitarian grounds. These detained fishermen belong to Thatta, Sujawal, Jati, Keti Bunder, and many areas in Karachi. Mehran Shah stated that the PFF would soon meet the families of the imprisoned fishermen and launch a movement for their release. The forum has also urged the government an to take swift diplomatic action to secure the release of these fishermen and to pressure India for their safe return.
Express Tribune
16-03-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
PFF to launch anti-drugs movement after Eid
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) has announced that a movement would be launched against drugs, gutka and mawa in Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth after Eid. According to the forum, the youth of Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth are becoming addicted to dangerous drugs such as ice and heroin. People in the age of 13 to 50 have become addicted to these deadly drugs. Similarly, about 50 illegal gutka, mawa factories are established in different neighbourhoods of Ibrahim Hyderi, where people from 10 to 60 years of age have become addicted to these harmful substances. According to medical experts, more than five thousand people in these areas are at risk of suffering from oral cancer. Addressing the fishermen meeting, Chairman of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Mehran Ali Shah said that Ice, heroin, gutka and mawa are being sold openly in Ibrahim Hyderi, Rehri Goth, Chashma Goth, Ali Akbar Shah Goth, Juma Goth, Ilyas Goth and other areas, which come under the limits of Ibrahim Hyderi police station. He appealed the IG Sindh, SSP Malir, DSP Sukhun and SHO Ibrahim Hyderi to have mercy on the young generation and impose a complete ban on these deadly drugs.
Express Tribune
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Fisherwomen rise against river project
Hundreds of women from different parts of the city gathered in Ibrahim Hyderi, demanding that the government immediately cancel the six-canal project on the Indus River. They stressed that this was not just about cultivating agricultural land but a matter of life and death. On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) organised a cycling rally near the sea to raise awareness about women's empowerment. Dozens of young girls participated, carrying placards and banners. The women chanted slogans against the ongoing water shortage in the coastal belt of Sindh, stating that they were the most affected by the crisis. They warned that the situation would become even more dire if the government did not withdraw its decision to construct new canals on the Indus River. "Let it flow naturally!" the protesters chanted, asserting that a nation could only survive and progress if its women were given their due rights. Addressing the crowd, PFF Chairman Mehran Ali Shah said, "Water is everything for us. The Indus River is everything for us. As fishermen, we cannot survive without water." He called on the government to release Sindh's rightful share of water, as stipulated in the 1991 Water Accord. He also highlighted the dire situation in Sindh, particularly in coastal areas, where thousands of people were being forced to leave their ancestral villages due to severe water shortages. "Our people are at risk. Our culture is at risk," he warned. Shah further stated that past dam projects had already economically crippled Sindh, and the new canal scheme would only worsen the crisis.
Express Tribune
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
22 Indian fishermen set free
Indian fishermen queue to depart a railway station in Karachi on November 9, 2023, after their release by Pakistani authorities. PHOTO: AFP The authorities on Friday released 22 Indian fishermen and handed them over to Indian authorities at the Wagah Border in Lahore. The fishermen, released from the Landhi Jail, were transported to Lahore by bus. Three of the released fishermen are Muslims while rest are Hindus. The authorities stated that the Indian fishermen were detained by Pakistani authorities had arrested the Indian fishermen for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters about three years back. They have been released on humanitarian grounds, the authorities said. The Edhi Foundation has borne all travel expenses of the released Indian fishermen from Karachi to Lahore and also gave gifts to them while leaving. In response to the Pakistani government's goodwill gesture, the Pakistani fishing community has called on the Indian government to release Pakistani fishermen who have been in Indian jails for years. "Our families are deeply worried. They have been waiting for their loved ones for years," said Mehran Ali Shah, Chairman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF). Shah praised the Pakistani government's consistent humanitarian approach of releasing Indian fishermen. "This is not the first time the Pakistani government has shown such a gesture. We hope the Modi government will respond in the same way and release our innocent fishermen at the earliest." The PFF has been advocating for the rights of detained fishermen for over three decades, urging both governments to address the issue in accordance with the international law.
