Parties extend support to fishers as stir over arrest by Sri Lankan Navy enters second day

AIADMK, CPI(M), and CPI support fishermen protest in Ramanathapuram district demanding release of fishermen and boats from Sri Lanka.

The AIADMK, the CPI(M) and the CPI, among other parties, extended their support to fishermen and their families on the second day of their protest on Saturday at Thangachimadam in Ramanathapuram district.

The protest, seeking the release of fishermen and boats in the custody of Sri Lanka, began as a hunger strike on Friday. Later, the fishers decided to continue their strike as a sit-in protest.

Former AIADMK Minister A. Anwar Raja said that despite deliberations and efforts of the previous governments, arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy recurred. “Of the 59 times that I have spoken in Parliament, I have raised fishermen’s issues 31 times...,” he pointed out.

At the time, senior leaders pointed out that the problem was due to fishermen crossing the international border. “My reply to them would be that when a fish does not have boundaries, how can a fisherman who catches them have [boundaries]?...” he added.

If the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) as on 1974 was adhered to, there would have been no problem. However, the 1976 agreement between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments, which redefined the IMBL, triggered the problems, he alleged.

“Leaders who emerged after the agreement [was drafted] could have negotiated with the Sri Lankan government to retrieve the lost areas. However, owing to several failures, we lost those areas permanently to Sri Lanka,” Mr. Raja added. Arresting the fishermen for crossing the IMBL could be accepted, but who gave them [the Sri Lankan Navy] the right to attack the fishers and confiscate their boats, he questioned.

Mr. Raja further said: “In 2016, a fisherman from Gujarat was arrested by the Pakistan government. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi interfered immediately, and secured his release...”