Sir — It has been reported that the Tamil Nadu Government has announced a solatium of five lakh rupees to the bereaved family of a young fisherman of Ramanathapuram who was allegedly shot dead by the Sri lankan Navy
near Katchatheevu.
This reminds me of the still alive Enrica lexie case involving two Italian mariners who shot dead two Indian fishermen, Jelestine and Ajeesh Pinku, in the seas off Ambalapuzha, Kerala.
After the arrest of the Italian sailors and continuous parleys, the Government of Italy agreed to pay a compensation of one crore rupees to each of the two dead fishermen. That is the value they fixed for the life of an Indian fisherman, though human value is invaluable.
In this backdrop, it is a tragedy that our State Government has fixed just five lakh rupees as compensation for the life of a 21-year-old Tamil fisherman proving that there is no value for human life.
Should it not be an eye-opener for the Tamil Nadu Government that while an alien country like Italy has valued an Indian life more valuable by fixing a compensation of one crore rupees, we should prove by exceeding their compensation to show that we consider Indian life much more valuable than themIJ