The coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic has snatched many valuable persons all over the world, but for me, the death of my friend, mentor and leader of Pakistan’s fishermen Muhammad Ali Shah was a great loss to the vulnerable communities of the country.
I remember when the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers had unleashed atrocities on fishermen of Badin during the Military rule of General (R) Pervaiz Musharraf (1999-2008), Muhammad Ali Shah along with his deceased wife Tahira Shah stood steadfast with the fishing communities and launched a strong movement against the powerful paramilitary forces. Due to their leadership and mobilization of the fishermen by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum in 2004 Pakistan Rangers had to leave the control of waters in the Badin district, which they had been illegally occupying since the 1970s. They were not allowing the bonafide fishermen to do fishing on lakes and along the Arabian sea coast in Badin district and only those fishermen were allowed to do fishing, who used to pay the contractor, appointed by them.
As a result of the relentless struggle led by Mr and Mrs Muhammad Ali Shah the Sindh government, at last, ended the contract system for fishing all over the province. The provincial government also made laws to introduce fishing licensing systems and also banned the use of destructive nets. It was for the first time that the most backward community (fishermen) of Sindh got a voice for their usurped rights.
The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) got famous all over the world because of the perpetuated struggle of the Shah couple. Muhammad Ali Shah remained an undisputed leader of the fishermen of Sindh (both marine fishermen and inland fishermen) and always remained at the forefront of the rights of fishermen. He faced the wrath of the authorities when he challenged their illegal actions. I remember the DHA authorities had stopped fishermen of Gizri from fishing at Sea View and they blocked the entry by erecting barricades. Muhammad Ali Shah dialogued with the uniformed heads of DHA and as a result, Gizri’s fishermen were allowed to fish. He also fought against the encroachment of a graveyard in a fishing village by the Coast Guard.
When the Pakistan government allowed big fishing trawlers (ships) to do fishing in Pakistani waters, under the deep-sea fishing policy in the 1990s-2000s, it was Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum that came forward and waged a struggle to end the Policy.
I can recall that my friendship with Muhammad Ali Shah started in the early 1990s when he formed a social welfare organisation in Ibrahim Haidry. He was working in the office of the union council as a government employee., but he along with his colleagues at the Ibrahim Haidery Welfare Association used to raise a voice against the problems of fishermen on the Karachi coast. The first time I went to interview him in his office of Ibrahim Haidry union council as I was writing a feature on Sindh’s fishermen. Till that time PFF was not formed.
Since then we used to meet at Karachi Press Club or in Ibrahim Haidry. Our bond further strengthened when in 2005 he asked me to join PFF. I worked for his organisation for a brief period from April to August 2005. Unfortunately, during that period, he was arrested by Hyderabad police along with other PFF colleagues Muhamamd Mallah, Jamal Shoro, Saami Memon and some others when they staged a sit-in outside the office of the provincial Fisheries department. Their arrest was made under the decades-old draconian law famous as MPO (Maintenance of Public Order). The PFF aggressively launched a struggle all over Sindh by holding protest demonstrations, press conferences and issuing statements. He was later released.
Muhammad Ali Shah also tried to make PFF units in Southern Punjab and Balochistan, where a lot of fishermen are living and learning their livelihoods by fishing. He headed the World Forum of Fisher People and remained active in the labour movement of the South Asia region. He was also worried about the destruction of the Indus Delta and the construction of big dams. He launched at least two long marches or Caravans. A large number of fishermen of the Indus Delta in Thatta and Karachi have been displaced and lost their livelihoods due to the intrusion of seawater into the land.
His life became barren when in a deadly car accident in March 2015 he lost his beloved wife Tahira Shah. Both were returning to Karachi from Badin after attending a meeting there and their car turned turtle and dived into a pool of standing poisoned water along the road. Tahira Shah drowned and Muhammad Ali Shah also suffered injuries and his lungs were badly infected due to inhaling the dirty water. He remained hospitalized for many days in Thatta and Karachi after the accident.
The last time, we travelled to the Thar desert for an exposure visit of Karachi’s journalists was on February 13-14, 2021. At that time we had long discussions on the plight of vulnerable communities of Sindh. Fortunately, I stayed in the same guest house in Mithi and had a valuable chat at breakfast with him. He was a passionate leader and always worried about the miseries of fishermen and affectees of Thar power plants.
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