KARACHI: It was a simple plan.
He would board a ship, earn a livelihood and return to India with enough funds to save his six-year-old daughter’s life. Little did 28-year-old Rajesh Shikh know that nearly 14 months later, he would be caught between hell and high water — stranded at the Port of Karachi and unable to see his ailing child.
It all began when Shikh’s daughter, Zoya, was diagnosed with thalassemia three years ago and needed INR5,000 for medical treatments every month. Unable to procure the required funds, Shikh — a resident of the Krishnanagar city in the Indian state of West Bengal — decided to board the MV MISKI, a Panama flag cargo ship destined for Sudan. Shikh’s plans — return as soon as he had earned enough money to pay for his daughter’s treatments.
Today, he is one among 13 members onboard the cargo ship, which is docked at the Port of Karachi, after the crew decided not to set sail as a mark of protest against the nonpayment of their salaries for the past 19 months. “Instead of sending money back home, I am stuck here at Karachi port and my family has started mortgaging household items to borrow money for the medical treatment of my little doll,” Shikh told Arab News.
Except for four Pakistanis, other crew members include five Indians, two Burmese, one Kenyan and one Sudanese national who have been living on the ship for more than a year now. Reasoning that the pending salaries amount to nearly $3,00,000, Muhammad Raza, a Pakistani crew member told Arab News that without Pakistani visas, “the crew can’t enter Pakistan and they don’t want to go back without their salaries”.
On October 4, the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued orders to auction the ship and use the proceeds to pay off the salaries. However, the decision has yet to be implemented. “If the ship is sold, our dues can be easily paid,” Raza said.
“Our passports are going to expire soon and we want the process to be completed at the earliest,” Amit Kumar Sharma, officer in charge of the ship’s equipment and crew, told Arab News. According to Sharma, the fuel got consumed almost a year ago, resulting in there being no gas or electricity for those onboard the ship. “It’s like a jail. Our agent provides us two meals a day, with which we try to survive,” Sharma told.
Sharma, who hails from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, said that the Indian embassy in Islamabad had promised to help fly the five crew members back to India, but said they could not assist them in securing unpaid salaries. “How can we leave for India without getting our dues despite spending the worst [months of our] life in the waters?” Sharma asked. “I have been away from home for the last 34 months,” he said.
The Indian embassy in Islamabad failed to respond to queries emailed by Arab News.
However, human rights activist and lawyer, Ansar Burney – who is representing the case in the SHC — said that none of the countries, including India, had shown an active interest in sending their citizens back home. “They are in the worst condition possible. This is a humanitarian issue and should be dealt with on a priority basis,” Burney told Arab News.
Shikh is not the only crew member with a painful story to narrate. His fellow compatriot, Niraj Kumar, a resident of Banaras, said that he has lost 20kgs since boarding the ship, due to the issues he has had to face for the past one year. “A month after I left home, my wife gave birth to my daughter. Nishu is now 18 months old and I haven’t seen her,” Kumar told Arab News. “The entire family is dependent upon me. You can imagine what life they must be living these days?” he asked.
Shikh and Kumar urged the Pakistani and Indian authorities to help them meet their families at soonest.”Since the Pakistani court has already ruled in our favor, the process should be completed at the earliest so that I can go back to save my beloved daughter,” Shikh said.
