Saturday, Mar 08, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau
From Saturday, Coast Guard will strengthen its presence along the international boundary with Sri Lanka, to check Indian fishermen crossing over to island waters. Saturday is one of the three days (apart from Monday and Wednesday), when fishermen from Mandapam have the right to venture into the sea. ``We have one ship along the IBL. Another set sail from here this evening to reach there in time. Plus our hovercraft from Mandapam and Dornier sorties will keep track of the fishermen,'' according to Commander Raheja, Coast Guard official. ``The vigil will be maintained for about 10 days and reviewed after that.'' Coast Guard also plans to take on board a Fisheries department official to ensure that licences for boats, which cross over despite warnings, are not renewed for a stipulated period. Commenting on Wednesday's incidents, the official said very few fishermen had obtained tokens to put to sea. Some possibly crossed the IBL and at dead of night, the Sri Lankans, who arrived there in small boats, boarded the boats and overpowered the fishermen. As the boats were located some distance from one another, they could not come to the rescue of those in distress.
`LTTE links'
Meanwhile, both the Central and State agencies are looking at reports emanating from Colombo that some of the fishermen groups from the Sri Lankan side, involved in the attack on Indian fishermen, were a "front organisation" of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, official sources here said. "There is information that some of these groups enjoy the backing of the Tamil Tigers. We are checking on these reports. But on the face of it, the fishermen from Rameswaram did cross the IBL. While there can be no objection to their detention and the subsequent legal process for release, any attack or harassment will have to be dealt with seriously", a senior official noted. The fishermen, who returned from Sri Lanka, would also be questioned, but it was doubtful whether they would come up with any startling revealation, he said. Going by preliminary reports from Rameswaram, there were some contradictions between what the detained fishermen had said in Mannar and what they were saying here on their return. At Rameswaram, the bandh call evoked a mixed response, with some areas observing a total closure and some others appearing near-normal. The striking fishermen organised streetcorner meetings and warned of a road roko if the Government failed to secure the release of the remaining 41 fishermen. A Tamil Nadu Fishermen Federation spokesman said the strike would continue until the Centre convened a meeting of representatives of fishermen's associations of both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, in Chennai or Colombo. As Katchatheevu and its surrounding areas were rich in prawns, fishermen from the coastal hamlets go there for a `good catch'. He demanded joint patrolling by the Indian and Sri Lankan Navies to prevent mid-sea attacks and Indian boats crossing over into Sri Lankan waters. The two Governments must evolve a viable strategy to share the marine resources.
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