Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Centre, State Govt. begin crisis defusing exercise

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI March 5. With another 42 fishermen from Rameswaram taken away by Sri Lankan fishermen and handed over to the island nation's authority, tension along coastal fishing hamlets has risen sharply in the past two days. The Centre and the State Governments are trying to defuse the crisis and make arrangements to bring back the detained fishermen.

The problem, officials explain, is that the `clash' now is between the fishermen of the two countries. "For over a decade now, the Sri Lankan fishermen have not been allowed to fish in their northern waters. Because of the peace talks, the ban has been lifted and loads of Sinhala fishermen from the Pesalai region are out at sea making the best of the season's catch. They do not want the fishermen from Tamil Nadu to cross the IBL and take their catch," a senior official says.

What has caused concern to the authorities here, and the fishermen too, is that the Sri Lankan fishermen are carrying deadly arms and weapons to attack their counterparts from Rameswaram. To avoid a major confrontation, the Tamil Nadu Government and the Centre are trying to work on the diplomatic as well as political fronts to douse the fire and evolve a mutually acceptable arrangement.

Senior State officials held discussions with the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner, Sumit Nakandala, today on what needs to be done to bring back the fishermen.

Navy on alert

The Navy and Coast Guard have been put on alert and asked to intensify their patrolling to prevent the straying of fishermen from here into Sri Lankan waters, where they get a better catch. The problem is that coastal fishermen are familiar with routine patrols, which provide enough entry points for them to fish in Sri Lankan waters.

"Till last year, the confrontation was with the Sri Lankan Navy. We could interact with them, restrain them and work through governmental and diplomatic channels to sort out the issue. We were clearly told then that it was security, more than the fishing rights and the Sri Lankan Navy did not want to be surprised by the LTTE at that point of time. Now, it is between the fishermen and the quarrel is over fishing rights," says a senior police officer who has dealt with this issue before.

Though the Indian High Commission in Colombo is working overtime to sort out the problem, officials here are convinced that the only solution is to prevent Indian fishermen from straying into Sri Lankan waters.

Unless this is done, they are afraid the fishermen will want to reopen the whole issue of giving up Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, which was done in the larger "good-neighbourly interests". Hence the urgency of finding an immediate solution to this tussle.

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