Tamil Nadu CM writes to PM on 23 fishermen arrested by SL Navy
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday sought Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in securing the release of 23 fishermen
of the State, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, and demanded a lasting solution
to the issue concerning them.
In a letter to the Prime Minister a copy of which was
released to the press, Stalin said the fishermen set out to sea from
Nagapattinam on October 11, got arrested by the Navy near the traditional
fishing base of Point Pedro on October 13 and taken to Karainagar naval base
where they were detained. This is highly reprehensible, Stalin said.
He urged the Prime Minister to immediately intervene and
take steps to permanently end the long-standing dispute between the Indian and
Sri Lankan fishermen, an official press release from the Tamil Nadu government
said. The Chief Minister asked Modi to take up the issue with the Sri Lankan
authorities at the diplomats-level and ensure the freedom of the 23 fishermen.
The continued attacks on innocent fishermen of Tamil Nadu by
the Sri Lankan navy are a matter of grave concern, he said.
Former Chief Minister
O Panneerselvam also wrote to PM Modi regarding the matter.
According to reports, on October 11, 23 fishermen from
Nagapattinam were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy for crossing the maritime
border. They were in two mechanised boats when they were surrounded by the
naval officers who informed them that they had crossed the borders. The fishers
were then arrested and then sent to the Kankesanthurai naval camp in Sri Lanka.
Following the arrests, fishermen from Nagapattinam sought
help from the state government to get the arrested fishers released. They added
that the fishing community was already reeling under financial distress induced
by the COVID-19 pandemic and that work had only picked up recently.
In August 2021, fishers from the Mandapam port in
Ramanathapuram district accused the Sri Lankan navy of attacking them with
stones. The incident took place in the Palk Strait area between India's
Rameswaram and Sri Lanka's Palk Strait.
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