Chennai: Expressing deep concern over the increasing incidents of arrest of Tamilnadu fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Chief Minister M K Stalin has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to secure their release and find a permanent solution to the problem.
In a letter to Modi, he cited the recent incidents of arrest of fishermen by the Lankan Navy and sought his personal intervention in this matter and direct the Ministry of External Affairs to take up the matter with Sri Lankan authorities so as to secure the immediate release of the fishermen and their fishing boats.
He said nine fishermen from Nagapattinam district along with their mechanised fishing vessel were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy while they were fishing in the Palk Bay area, in the early hours of 24 February and taken to Mylatti base, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
It is also learnt that another fishing boat from Karaikal, Puducherry with 13 fishermen (eight from Tamilnadu) was also apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Again, on 26 February, eight fishermen who ventured for fishing from the Ramanathapuram district in a mechanized fishing vessel were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy, in the early hours of 27 February and taken to Kiranchi, Sri Lanka.
He said it was highly disheartening to note that our fishermen are facing harassment at the hands of the Sri Lankan Navy at an alarming frequency. It continues despite several letters having been sent from government of Tamilnadu highlighting the escalation of such instances of harassment and arrest of our fishermen.
‘The repeated attempts by the Sri Lankan Navy to infringe on historic fishing rights of Tamilnadu fishermen in the Palk Bay has to be permanently ended through concerted efforts by the Government of India’, Stalin said.
The continued incarceration of the fishermen and their boats has created a deep sense of despondency among the fishermen community, he said and sought Modi’s personal interevention to find a permanent solution to the issue.