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Tamil Nadu
By Our Special Correspondent
She also urged that the proposed ferry service between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka be put off, as it was not an opportune time. In one of the letters, a copy of which was released to the media here, she said she was ``totally against'' the land bridge project and insisted that the matter be viewed not as one of ``economic cooperation'' between the two countries but as a ``vital issue concerning the security of Tamil Nadu and India''. Giving reasons for her objection, she said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam brought the ``gun culture and, worse still, the horror of suicide bombing'' into the peaceful State. Though peace talks between Tigers and the island Government were in progress, ``the LTTE had always found some pretext to revert to its patented brand of ugly terrorism after a quiet phase of peace negotiations.'' When this was the track record of the LTTE, it would be premature and unwise to contemplate any land bridge between the two countries. Ms. Jayalalithaa pointed out that the Union Planning Commission had on August 12 last sent a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, indicating that a joint statement was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs following a meeting of the Prime Ministers of India and Sri Lanka on June 11, 2002. Subsequently, an inter-ministerial level meeting decided to take up a pre-feasibility study and invite the State Government's comments on the proposal.
`Take Katchatheevu on lease'
In other letter, she said the root cause of the ``misery and suffering'' of the Tamil Nadu fishermen was the ``gifting away'' of Katchatheevu under the Indo-Sri Lanka maritime agreement. Recalling Mr. Vajpayee's speech in the Lok Sabha on July 23, 1974, criticising the Indian Government for having ``surrendered its rights'' by handing over Katchatheevu, Ms.Jayalalithaa said the ``unfortunate decision in the name of good neighbourly relations'' led to the killing of over 100 fishermen from Tamil Nadu. Besides, 326 fishermen suffered serious injuries and 35 fishing boats were destroyed and fish worth crores was dumped into the sea. The best possible solution was to get Katchatheevu and adjacent seas on ``lease in perpetuity'' solely for fishing, drying of nets and pilgrimage. At the same time, Sri Lanka's sovereignty over Katchatheevu could be respected. The May 1974 Indo-Bangladesh agreement on leasing out Tin Bigha to Bangladesh could be a precedent, she said. Also, as India had permitted Sri Lankan fishing vessels to fish in the Wadge bank for three years, Colombo should be persuaded to permit duly licensed fishermen from Tamil Nadu to fish in Lankan waters up to five nautical miles. The Chief Minister also called for a bilateral pact to ensure that fishermen straying into each other's territory were released immediately and not subjected to harassment by authorities of either country.
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