Tamil Nadu govt calls for retrieval of Katchatheevu island to end detention of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka
India Today
A total of 12 fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Rameshwaram were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy recently for allegedly crossing the international maritime border.
Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said that their top most agenda is to retrieve the Katchatheevu island that is currently controlled by Sri Lanka, to resolve the recurring issues faced by fishermen.
Katchatheevu island is where Tamil Nadu’s fishermen in districts like Rameshwaram go since Indian waters are depleted of fish. The fishermen cross the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) to reach the island but get detained by Sri Lankan Navy.
The policy note submitted by government mentioned that over 80,000 fishermen directly depend on fishing in Palk Bay districts which includes fishermen from Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Nagapattinam.
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But in recent times the arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly crossing maritime border has left the Indian fishermen in a spot of bother.
"The prolonged incarceration of our fishermen and their fishing boats by the Sri Lankan government has been causing a sense of anxiety and insecurity among the fishermen community of Tamil Nadu as a whole," said the police note.
The government said that only solution to this crisis is to "reiterate the government's consistent stand that a permanent solution to this vexatious problem faced by our fishermen will be possible only by restoring India's sovereignty over Katchatheevu, thereby restoring their rights to fish in their traditional waters."
