The BJP government shall retrieve the impounded vessels of the fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel first and then talk about retrieval of the Katchatheevu islet, said Maneetha Neya Makkal Katchi president and MLA M.H. Jawahirullah here on Monday.
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Speaking at an election rally in Keelakarai in support of the IUML candidate Nawaz Kani, an ally of the DMK front and the sitting MP from the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency, he said that the BJP had made tall promises when it got elected in 2014.
On January 31, 2014, a delegation led by the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj initiated talks, but then there was no other tangible move. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the fishermen then and assured a secure livelihood.
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Over 400 vessels belonging to the fishermen from Rameswaram, Thangachimadam, Devipattinam and Mandapam were being impounded by the SL Navy on the charges of poaching. They were not returned till date. The mounting debts of the fishermen had forced many of them to leave the job. As a result, many families faced severe financial crunch and underwent psychological issues within their families, he said.
After remaining silent for 10 years, raking up the Katchatheevu issue now, when the country was facing the 18th general election to the Lok Sabha, it only showed the tactics of the BJP, he charged and wanted the fisherfolk to think and beware of the fake promises.
He said that the INDIA bloc was emerging stronger every day that apart from the southern States, it would emerge victorious in many northern states as well, thus setting a wave in favour of a new government at the Centre, he added.