The inefficiency and indifference of the UPA Government at the Centre in dealing with the frequent attack on Indian fishermen by the Sri lankan Navy has been exposed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Since assuming chief ministership of the State in May 2011, Jayalalithaa has sent a record number of 17 letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to draw his attention to the attack on fishermen by the Sri lankan Navy. On an average, the Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister a letter every month on the issue.
This was disclosed by KA Jayapal, the Minister for Fisheries in the State Assembly on Wednesday. He said because of the perseverance of the Chief Minister, 505 fishermen who were arrested since May 2011 were released by the lankan authorities. The Minister said he has no details about the exact number of fishermen languishing in Sri lankan jails.
Fishermen from the districts off the Palk Bay who fish near the International Maritime Boundary line fall easy prey to the Sri lankan Navy who arrest them and seize their catch. “Efforts are on to get all the imprisoned fishermen free,” he said.
The marine wealth in the Palk Bay region has been depleted due to the introduction of trawler fishing and trolling. The root cause of the present show down between Indian fishermen and Sri lankan Navy, according to the Minister, was the decision of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to hand over the Kachchatheevu islet to Sri lanka. “With the handing over of Kachchatheevu, the fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen too was bartered to the island nation,” said the Minister.
Efforts are on to get the 1974 and 1976 agreements nullified and retrieve the islet from Sri lanka, said the Minister. He said the Chief Minister has approached the apex court with a plea to nullify the India-Sri lanka deal on Kachchatheevu.