The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen — 12 from Rameswaram and four from Mandapam — in the early hours of Thursday. Two mechanised boats were impounded.
The fishermen were reportedly taken to a camp in Mannar, and are expected to be produced before a court and sent to prison. The charge is that they crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line. The Sri Lankan Navy secured them near Katchatheevu.
Condemning the arrest, fishermen association leader Jesu Raja said the Union government should immediately intervene and ensure that the fishermen were released along with their boats.
Recalling the “warmth” with which 16 Sri Lankan Tamils, who had fled the country by boat in the wake of the economic crisis, were received in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, he said that against this backdrop, the arrest of the Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy had come as a shock. “Sri Lanka is not in a position to feed its own people. How are they going to provide food to the arrested fishermen?” he asked.
He said the friendly ties with the island nation appeared to be one-sided. Recently, the Centre extended a huge amount of financial assistance to Sri Lanka. He appealed to the Centre to take up the issue with the neighbouring country.
Ban period
In another 30 to 45 days, the annual fishing ban would commence along the coastal regions. At a time when fishermen’s livelihoods appeared to be moving towards normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic, such frequent arrests and seizure of boats had become a routine affair, and needed to be stopped for good, Mr. Raja said.
A meeting of fishermen associations in Rameswaram, Mandapam and Thangachimadam was held at Rameswaram. According to Mr. Raja, the members strongly condemned the Sri Lankan Navy’s actions and urged that the arrested persons be released immediately. They also decided to refrain from venturing into the sea on Saturday, a day on which they would normally go fishing.
The meeting also passed a resolution lauding the Union government for extending financial support to Sri Lanka, which was reeling from an economic crisis. In a bid to draw the government’s attention to their plight, they were planning to stage a demonstration at Rameswaram on Saturday, Mr. Raja said.
