The Sri lankan Navy arrested 35 fishermen from Tamil Nadu late on Sunday and seized four boats. While the Indian side claimed they were fishing in the Palk Strait, Sri lankan Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasooriya said they were caught off the coast of Kalpitiya, well within Sri lanka’s territorial waters.The fishermen were taken to an army camp in Talaimannar.
As many as 106 fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been imprisoned in Sri lanka for trespassing the International Maritime Boundary while “bottom trawling”. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has even written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the matter.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi had asked the Centre to set up a naval base in Dhanushkodi or Mandapam in the backdrop of the frequent ‘attacks’ on fishermen by the lankan Navy.
Interestingly, oceanographers and marine scientists hold an entirely different view. Dr YS Yadava, director of the Bay of Bengal Programme, an inter-Governmental organisation, told The Pioneer that India would be in deep trouble if Sri lanka takes up this issue internationally.
“The International Maritime Boundary line between India and Sri lanka is well-defined. Tamil Nadu fishermen trespass across the border. How can one justify this actionIJ” asked Yadava. On Sunday’s incident too, India claims that the group was fishing in the region between Talaimannar and Dhanushkodi.
Yadava, however, said it was an open secret that the marine wealth on the Indian side had depleted due to continuous fishing. “Sri lankan fishermen could not venture out to sea for almost three decades because of the ethnic war in the island nation. Now that the war is over, fishermen from even southern Sri lanka are coming to the northern region. What will be your reaction if fishermen from Pakistan, China or Korea trespass into India’s boundary for fishingIJ” he asked.