The recent arrest of five fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy could only be seen as an act to derail the attempts to sort out the issues relating to fishing in the traditional waters of Palk Bay through diplomatic efforts of the Indian and Sri Lankan governments, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has said.
In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Palaniswami referred to the arrest of five fishermen from Pamban fishing base on April 30.
‘Arrests demoralising’
“It is unfortunate that the Sri Lankan government continues to intimidate Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who eke out their livelihood through traditional fishing methods,” he said.
The arrests sent out a “demoralising message” to the fishermen of Tamil Nadu and it was important that the Centre communicated to the Sri Lankan side “in firm, clear, unequivocal and unambiguous terms” that these trends have to be reversed and that the Indian government was firmly committed to protecting the livelihood of fishermen from Tamil Nadu, the Chief Minister said.
Observing that a total of 134 fishing boats were in Lankan custody, Mr. Palaniswami said, “Though Sri Lanka agreed to consider the release of the boats, no final decision has been taken in this regard, and even during the recent meeting of the Prime Ministers of India and Sri Lanka, no announcement was made on this aspect.”
