Six Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured on Tuesday when they were allegedly attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy which briefly detained 13 others near Katchatheevu in the Palk Strait.
The fishermen, taken to Neduntheevu in Sri Lanka along with their three boats, were ordered to be released, according to officials, who received a wireless message from Sri Lanka.
However, before ordering their release, the fishermen were allegedly hit with sticks and punched several times by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel, the sources said.
In the second such incident in two days, six fishermen were injured in the alleged attack by the Lankan navy near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974.
Official sources said the fishermen were attacked with stones, nylon ropes and rods and their three boats taken away.
While one fishermen identified as Gnanasekaran has been hospitalised in Rameswaram for head injury, five others suffered minor injuries, they said.
On Sunday, the Sri Lankan Navy allegedly took away at gun point the catch netted by fishermen who put to sea from here, when they were near Katchatheevu after surrounding 10 boats.
In another incident on the same day in Nagapattinam, eight fishermen of Vedaranyam village were injured in an attack allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy personnel in mid-sea off Arukattuthurai in Tamil Nadu.
Tuesday’s attack comes a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, charging the government with “soft handling” the issue of Sri Lankan Navy’s alleged attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen.
A senior Coast Guard official said the 13 fishermen were released by the Sri Lankan Navy and were on their way back home.
“I was informed that these boats (carrying fishermen) have been released by the Sri Lankan Navy and they are on their way back to Tamil Nadu shores,” Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma Regional Commander (East) Coast Guard told reporters at Chennai
Keywords: Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu fishermen, fishermen issue
Did Kerala get the help of Union Govt. to tackle foreigners killing its
citizens? No. It brought them justice by itself. TN can stop blaming the
Union Govt. for everything, and start doing what it can do by itself.
Give compensation to these fishermen, give them protection and teach
them maritime laws.
In the last attack, SM Krishna echoed that our fishermen are entering the Srilankan territory for better fish cache. In that case, he said, it was obvious that the foreign Navy protects its territory and the fish!! I watched a Rameshwaram fisherman disclosing that they enter far off (meaning Srilankan areas) because our area does not have a large cache of fish. When the press asked them if it was a violation, they felt that India should not have parted the Kacchatheevu, where we have good quantity. I believe every politician and government is aware of this conflict. The person who would tie the bell has to face the wrath of either of the parties. What pains me, is that, should the innocent fishermen lose lives, for a political conflict? Would the local politicians of the area step in and try to explain the facts to fishermen and help them broker a solution with the governments?
This attack and humiliations of our fishermen seems to be frequent and going on for a long time. Do we care ?
It is time that Indian Government must deploy our navy near Katchethevu
to neutralize the roguish behaviour of Srilankan Navy and protect our
fishermen.
The attrocities of the Srilankan navy will continue as long as India does not guard its coasts. The local fishing community always complain about the Srilankan Navy's intrusion into Indian territorial waters to nab these poor fisherman on some pretext or the other. India should take a stand on this matter and the coast guard should not stand as mere spectator to such events. When the government needs the foreign exchange generated by this community it should also be able to protect the interest of the people. Fishermen already face the perils of nature. Lets not make them face the wrath of feuding governments as well..
TN, learn from Kerala how to protect poor fisherman from these kind of
killers, rather than mere political talks do the real strong legal
actions.
Can all the 40 MPs representing Tamilnadu take up this issue with the PM
& FM and bring the Parliment to stand still atleast for a few minutes to
show their concern.
Please Email the Editor