Nagapattinam, Mar 3 (UNI) Pointing out that 3,656 Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy during the last 10 years since the BJP-led government assumed office at the Centre
in 2014, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to sign a fresh agreement with Sri Lanka to restore the fishing rights of fishermen near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to the Island Nation through a 1974 pact, and find a permanent solution to this vexatious issue.
Speaking after inaugurating 35 completed project worth Rs 139.92 crores and launching the
foundation stone for 206 new ones involving Rs 82.99 crore and distributing various welfare measures to the tune of Rs 200.27 crore to about 39,000 beneficiaries at an official function in
this district, Mr Stalin sought the personal intervention of the Prime Minister on the issue to
prevent the continuing arrests of TN fishermen by the Lankan authorities on charges of fishing
in their territorial waters by crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
He urged Mr Modi to take steps to ink a new agreement with Sri Lanka allowing Tamil Nadu fishermen to fish near Katchatheevu island", he said.
"As the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu I am again and again requesting you to take steps in this regard", Mr Stalin said.
Recalling the meeting he had with various fishermen associations in Chennai a few days back
during which expressed they said their livelihood were affected due to the recurring arrests,
Mr Stalin said since Mr Modi assumed office at the Centre in 2014, 38,656 fisehrmen were
arrested by the Lankan Navy so far of which 860 were from this Nagapattinam district.
The Lankan Navy had so far seized 611 mechanised boats during the last ten years which included 116 boats belonging to the fishermen of Nagapattinam, he said.
Pointing out that till November 22, 2024 a total of 736 incidents of attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen had occurred, the Chief Minister said MoS for External Affairs had issued a statement on the problems prevailing in the neighbouring Nation and it is the duty of the Union government to find
a permanent solution to the impasse.
"But are they doing it...No", he said, adding, the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between the fishermen of the two Nations which were held since 2010, was not being held now and the decisions taken at the Ministerial-level meeting in 2016 have been violated.
Pointing out that the atrocities being committed by the Sri Lankan Navy has been continuing unabated, he said fishermen were put to untold sufferings because of the stringent provisions
in the Fishing Ban Bill in Sri Lanka.
"Though External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar has been stating that talks were being held by a
four-member committee of both the countries, but there has been no concrete outcome so far",
he added.
Mr.Stalin appealed to the Union Government to treat Tamil Nadu fishermen as Indian fishermen.
‘It is the duty of the Union Government to solve the fishermen problem. The Centre should take stronger diplomatic measures to secure immediate release of all the fishermen and their boats
from the Sri Lankan custody.
"Mr Modi you should directly intervene on the issue and find a permanent solution. The incidents
of attack and arrest of fishermen could not continue forever and it must be put to an end", he said, adding the Sri Lankan government has been imposing huge fines on incarcerated fishermen and
that it should be stopped.
Urging the Prime Minister to take concrete and effective steps to uphold the traditional rights of
Tamil Nadu fishermen, Mr Stalin said the Sri Lankan government first should repeal the draconian 2018 Act that envisaged stringent guidelines and punishment for the arrested fishermen.
Asking Mr Modi to hold talks to secure the release of arrested fishermen and their impounded boats, besides providing necessary legal assistance, he said the Prime Minister should also take steps to prevent levying of hefty fines by the Sri Lankan government on the arrested fishermen and appealed to him to take steps to sign a fresh agreement with Sri Lanka to restore the fishing rights of our fishermen near Katchatheevu islet.
Observing that the State has been fighting to uphold its rights on every issue, the Chief Minister the state has been been getting its due share of funds from the Centre.
"Now the Centre has refused to release funds for the students under the SSA scheme. It has been imposing a condition that Tamil Nadu has to accept the three-language policy as envisaged under NEP-2020 if it want to get its due share of funds (to the tune of Rs 2,152 crore)", he pointed out.
He asserted the State would stick to its existing two-language policy and highlighted the benefits it had provided over the years.
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