Date:17/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/17/stories/2008071760071300.htm

National

Firing on fishermen: PM to speak to Rajapaksa

J. Balaji

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) that he will take up the issue of the Sri Lankan Navy’s alleged “indiscriminate firing” on Tamil Nadu fishermen with the island nation’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he visits Colombo for the SAARC meeting in August.

Dr. Singh promised to find a permanent solution to the problem and put a full stop to such incidents, Union Health Minister and PMK leader R. Anbumani Ramadoss told journalists here after meeting the Prime Minister.

The PMK delegation, consisting of MPs and MLAs from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, wanted the Centre to warn the Sri Lankan navy that strict action would be taken against it if the fishermen were killed on the high seas.

In case fishermen violated the boundary rules, they could be subjected to legal processes. But indiscriminate killing was a heinous crime for which the Lankan naval personnel could straightway be prosecuted.

The party claimed that so far 400 innocent fishermen of Tamil Nadu had been killed by the Sri Lankan Navy. Besides, it had been attacking, abducting, arresting and imprisoning fishermen of Tamil Nadu and Karaikal (under Puducherry’s control) and destroying their boats and nets while fishing on the maritime border in the southern part of Tamil Nadu.

Such unprovoked attacks had created a sense of fear and insecurity among the fishermen who felt that no government could protect their profession and lives. “This is a sad predicament indeed. The Centre should not push the downtrodden fishermen to the brink of such a helpless situation,” it said.

The party suggested that Katchatheevu, which was given to Sri Lanka by India in the 1960s, be retrieved to restore the fishing rights of the Tamil Nadu fishermen.