Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the release of 22 fishermen from Rameswaram, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and taken to Thalaimannar on Wednesday.
In a letter, a copy of which was released to the media, she said the fishermen were engaged in fishing in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay when the Sri Lankan Navy apprehended them. Reiterating the Tamil Nadu government’s stand that the Government of India should not treat the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with Sri Lanka as a settled question, she said that the constitutionality of the 1974 and 1976 agreements have been challenged in the Supreme Court of India.
Pointing out that 85 fishing boats and 13 Tamil fishermen were still languishing in Sri Lankan custody, Ms. Jayalalithaa said that the prolonged detention and disuse of the boats would have damaged them. “I once again request the Government of India to secure the release of the fishing boats and restore them in a refurbished condition to the fishermen at the earliest,” she said.
