Islands community activists have expressed fears for the local fishermen as movement of unidentified people into the vicinity has been witnessed due to lack of security along the Karachi Fish Harbour (KFH). President Bona Fide Boat Owners and Fishermen Welfare Association Asif Bhatti based at Bhit Island told The News that the recently foiled terrorist bid near Keamari Oil Terminal compound justifies the issues raised earlier through a letter written to Sindh chief secretary, demanding effective security measures along the entire channel from KFH to Manora to thwart any possibility of such incidents.

The letter was also sent to other relevant authorities to persuade them to tighten security to avoid any chance of attacks near this sensitive zone. The News possesses a copy of the letter dated April 9, 2009 and has learnt that it has also been sent to the Home Department, Maritime Security Agency, Chairperson Karachi Port Trust, Commander Navy, Secretary Fisheries Department and local union council nazim.

"We mentioned in the letter that the movement of certain illegal people is apparent as the association frequently receives complaints of fishing tools getting stolen from boats anchored along the local island jetties and the harbour. If the authorities concerned fail to control the situation, these people may reach the island localities, trap some greedy elements and use the area for unlawful activities," Bhatti warned.

"There are sensitive installations along the channel but there is no check on the people coming there. Apart from this, no identity cards have been issued by the Karachi Fish Harbour Association (KFHA) for the people associated with institutions housed in the harbour premises," the letter stated. Bhatti said that the concerned government bodies never paid heed to their complaints and fears, and terrorists had reached the target area, but foiled. At present, there is no security and no check on outsiders coming in to the entire channel.

The community activists say that whenever a terrorist incident occurs, local fishermen become victims of security agencies which involve them in the interrogation process, depriving fishermen of their livelihood activities. He said that when the Mumbai incident occurred, the fishermen were terrorized by certain forces. And after the recent incident at the Keamari Terminal, the community people are being compelled to show their crew cards and boat documents, which wastes their time unnecessarily while travelling for their livelihood activities.

"Fishermen are law-abiding citizens and the government's security forces should tighten the security at entry and exit points to thwart any possibility of terrorist attacks, instead of harassing the community," he said, adding that security measures must be taken inside the harbour to ensure that the boats coming from the sea did not carry mysterious people onboard. There are no clearance documents for the people running small boats in the channel. These boats operate at night carrying unknown people, which may sometimes create a security risk.

The fishermen have been settled at the islands for long and in case of any emergency the community may have to face a lot of problems. The activists expressed fears that the community people might have to be involved in unnecessary, unfair interrogation if such a situation arises. Therefore, the government should tighten security before any blame falls on the community. The same non-government welfare body had sent another letter to the Director General Maritime Security Agency (MSA) on September 9, requesting that the fishermen have cards issued by relevant government agencies, KFHA, Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Customs and others so that the local workforce can be identified properly.

The letter states that the boats have a list of the crew prepared by KFHA, but, at times, due to different reasons, the community boat owners change crew members. This is an age old tradition, they said. Therefore, it was argued, there should be no question of checking the crew list and creating problems for the workers. The body appealed to government authorities to tighten their security at relevant jurisdictions and avoid blaming the innocent community people.