Fishermen leaders have decried Sri Lankan government’s reported move to impose fine as high as Rs. 15 crore on Indian fishermen poaching in their waters, saying that it would in no way help to resolve the fishermen issue.
Reacting to the reports that the Sri Lankan government proposed to amend the Fisheries Act and introduce the hefty fine, U. Arulanandham, president of the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF), said it was distressing to note that Sri Lanka was “not showing any interest” in addressing the fishermen issue on a humanitarian perspective. The move would neither help to better the ties between India and Sri Lanka nor find a lasting solution to the vexatious issue. The Sri Lankan government was considering the hefty fine as if it had been kind to the Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu for all these 32 years, he said.
The island nation should understand that fishermen, despite losing many lives to the bullets of the Sri Lankan Navy, continued their livelihood in the Palk Strait as they had no other means of livelihood, he said.
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