The arrest of 79 fishermen, mostly from South 24-Parganas, and the seizure of five boats of theirs by the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard for allegedly crossing the maritime boundary earlier this month, prompted the Bengal fishing community to claim that it signalled a harsher approach by the new Bangladesh regime.
According to fishermen's associations, the coastal administration under the Sheikh Hasina regime was lenient towards Bengal's fisherfolk, usually pushing them back if they "inadvertently" crossed the international maritime boundary, especially while seeking a hilsa catch. Many fishing boats from Bangladesh also reportedly entered Indian waters to catch different varieties of fish regularly, reports The Telegraph India.
"During the Hasina era, the guards of the neighbouring country used to push the fisherfolk back instead of arresting them or initiating legal action. This recent development indicates that the new regime won't act the same way," said Satinath Patra, secretary of the Sundarban Samudrik Matshyajibi Shramik Union, an association of fishermen in South 24-Parganas.
"If they continue arresting our fishermen, we will not tolerate Bangladeshi fishermen entering Indian waters either. We will report them to the Indian Coast Guard and demand legal action," he added.
A source stated that there were some 2,500 fishing boats used for marine and riverine fishing from South 24-Parganas.
On 13 October, the Bangladesh Navy arrested 31 fishermen from Bengal and seized two boats — FB-Ma Basanti and FB-Jay Jagannath — and handed them over to Kolapara police station of its country. Currently, they are lodged in a jail in Patuakhali.
That same week, Bangladesh Coast Guard personnel seized three more fishing boats — FB-Abhijit, FB-Abhijit3 and FB-Narayan — and arrested 48 more individuals. They were handed over to the Mongla police station in Bangladesh. One person went missing when pursued by the Bangladesh Coast Guard, a source said.
According to Patra, the recent arrests and legal proceedings were different from the 2022 incident when the Bangladesh government arrested 135 Indian fishermen and seized eight trawlers for crossing the maritime boundary.
"A larger group had gone deeper into Bangladesh with larger trawlers. In this recent development, all five boats were small fishing boats owned by poor fishermen, not trawlers," said Patra.
Abhijit Das, son of Asit Das, one of the fishermen jailed in Bangladesh, said that despite his family’s involvement in fishing for the past three decades, this is the first time something like this had happened to his father.
"My father was arrested and our two boats seized by the Bangladeshi authorities. As he is the sole breadwinner of our family, we are now in a severe crisis and desperately seek his release," said Abhijit, a law student in Calcutta, adding that he and two others would go to Bangladesh to arrange legal aid for his father and others.
An Indian Coast Guard source agreed that coastal guards of the neighbouring country typically used to allow boats that crossed 1-2km inside foreign waters to return without legal issues.
"These boats might have ventured further.... However, the government is working diligently to secure the fishermen’s release," the source said.
On 22 October, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government was working to facilitate the return of Bengal's fishermen to the state.
