Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Fishermen demand security

CHENNAI: Fishermen from Rameswaram want the government to provide them security to fish in Sri Lankan waters. This was the main demand of a delegation of the striking fishermen that met Animal Husbandry Secretary Leena Nair at the secretariat here on Wednesday. Their argument was that fish did not recognise boundaries and hence they too would not. They would fish where the catch was good.

Ms. Nair tried to explain that the Sri Lankans did not look at the issue the same way and that it was a sovereign nation. The argument did not find much support from among the delegation of fishermen who said that they had the support of most political parties on the issue.

Defence and State government officials explained that the two fishermen who were recently shot dead by Sri Lankan Navy were inside 10 km coastline off Point Pedro in northern Sri Lanka. The island nation, had, through a gazette notification on March 27, 2006, banned fishing within 10 km off the coast. The ban covered two-thirds of the coastline of the country. “When they have banned their own fishermen in the name of security, how will they allow our people,” one official asked.

Sri Lankan and Indian defence officials have often emphasised that the Indian fishermen should not cross over to Sri Lankan for their own safety. They insisted that Katchatheevu island was not an issue. “Look at the satellite map of the area and you will realise that none of the Indian fishing vessels is anywhere near Katchatheevu. They are all close to the Sri Lankan coast,” another official said. After each firing, however, fishermen claim that they have been shot “close to Kachchatheevu.” The security establishments in both countries are more concerned about one open secret in the region – that of a section of fishermen smuggling fuel and other material across both the countries.

The fishermen wanted to meet Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and explain the issue in person to him. He has consented to meet them on Thursday. The Cabinet that met on Wednesday also discussed the issue and a few suggestions had come on how to deal with the issue.

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