Two months on, fate of 10 Pakistani sailors held by Somali pirates hangs in balance

Throughout this time their families have been running from pillar to post to get them back home but they have only run into walls. The biggest and strongest of the walls, according to them, is their own Pakistani government, which has made the least effort to lessen their plight. “The pirates are demanding ransom but the Pakistani government has refused to negotiate with the Somali pirates. It can only deal with the company that owns the tanker, which is to negotiate with the pirates. But it turns out that the company claiming to own the tanker initially is some third party. The actual owners are not coming forward,” Ayesha Ameen, wife of Ameen Bin Shams, a fitter on the ship, told Dawn. Ayesha was protesting outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday with her family. There was her six-month-old son Rahim Ameen and three-year-old daughter Zimal Ameen with her, along with her mother and father-in-law. The protest, attended by many families of the hostages, was called by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI). “We are constantly being told by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that this is an international issue. The ship is also anchored in a no-go area and not in international waters,” Ayesha informed. She said that her family was extremely worried about her husband. “It was his very first time on such an assignment and to get this job he had even paid $500 initially as a guarantee amount,” shared Ayesha. She also said that new videos show the men are not doing well health-wise. “Third Engineer Mahmood Ahmed Ansari and Second Officer Syed Kashif Umer Naqvi are diabetic. The rest are also catch