Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of recent arrest of fishermen from the State by the Sri Lankan Navy and urged him to ensure their release along with their boats.
Referring to the recent arrest of 24 fishermen from Rameswaram, Mr. Palaniswami termed the continuing incidents as “mid-sea abductions” by the Sri Lankan Navy and further recalled Tamil Nadu’s repeated requests to the Centre to use all diplomatic means to prevail upon Sri Lanka and reverse this trend.
“The alarming increase in the frequency of abductions by the Sri Lankan Navy is a matter of utmost concern for the government and the people of Tamil Nadu. An immediate intervention at the highest level is sought to resolve this long-standing livelihood issue of our fishermen,” Mr. Palaniswami wrote in his letter, a copy of which was released to the media.
The frequent incidents have a “demoralising impact” on not just the fishermen but the people of Tamil Nadu, he observed and further noted that the Sri Lankan government had not released any of the fishing boats that were apprehended since January 2015.
“The Sri Lankan government’s inhumane strategy of not releasing the boats of our fishermen is causing great loss of livelihood to the fishermen and their families,” he noted.
The State government is taking multifarious steps to convert trawling boats to long liners and gill netters in the shortest possible period, but all transitions “take time.” At present, a total of 42 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and 141 boats are in Sri Lankan custody.
