Ramadoss, the founder of BAMA, has urged that the central government should go to New Delhi along with all party leaders to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prevent the new encroachment of the Sri Lankan government and to find a permanent solution to the problem of fishermen.
In this regard, Ramadoss, the founder of Bamaka, has said in a statement;
The Sri Lankan court has acquitted 18 of the 19 Rameswaram fishermen who were arrested while fishing in the Bay of Bengal on the 8th, and sentenced only the boat driver Johnson to 6 months in prison. The court said that the fisherman Johnson had already been arrested and released for catching fish across the border, and now he will be sentenced to prison because he has committed the crime again. Besides that, if the 18 fishermen who were released are arrested again, they will be sentenced to 6 months and if they are arrested again after Johnson's release, they will be sentenced to one year in prison. The Sri Lankan court has warned. This is a violation by the Sinhalese government using the law.
This is the second time in the last one week that a Sri Lankan court has sentenced Tamil Nadu fishermen to prison terms. In the case related to the arrest of 23 Rameswaram fishermen who were fishing in the Bay of Bengal on the 4th, the Sri Lankan court ruled on the 16th and acquitted the 20 fishermen and sentenced two fishermen to 6 months in prison and one to one year in prison. The court has sentenced.
The Sinhalese Government and Courts' latest move to jail Tamil Nadu fishermen appears to be the next step in a planned and staged approach to destroy the livelihoods of Tamil Nadu fishermen. For the past 6 months, the Sri Lankan government has been engaging in activities such as arresting Tamil Nadu fishermen, attacking Tamil Nadu fishermen with Sri Lankan pirates and robbing them. This is strongly condemned.
Sri Lanka has also used such tactics in the past to deprive Tamil Nadu fishermen of their livelihoods. In 2015, the Sri Lankan Cabinet approved a law to impose a fine of Rs 25 crore on fishermen who trespass into Sri Lankan waters. The Sri Lankan government then withdrew the decision due to protests from Tamil Nadu. The Sri Lankan government warned last year that if the Tamil Nadu fishermen cross the border, they will be punished with imprisonment of up to 3 years. Now it has started its implementation.
This action of the Sri Lankan government is against international norms. The reality is that Tamil Nadu fishermen cannot be punished in any way for fishing in the Bay of Bengal. The sea area between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu is very narrow, so it is inevitable that Tamil Nadu fishermen enter Sri Lankan waters and Sri Lankan fishermen enter Indian waters. Therefore, it is right to allow Tamil Nadu fishermen and Sri Lankan fishermen to continue fishing in the same areas where they have been fishing for a long time. The Indian government should not laugh at the fact that the Sinhalese government is arresting and imprisoning Tamil Nadu fishermen for fishing in traditional fishing areas. The solution to this problem is that the fishermen of both sides share the territorial waters of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, which have a very small area, on the basis of an agreement. This solution has been proposed many times in the past.
Realizing this, I urge the central government to arrange talks in which representatives of Tamil Nadu fishermen, Sri Lankan fishermen, Tamil Nadu government and Sri Lankan government will participate. While the fishermen of Tamil Nadu are being arrested by the Sinhalese Navy, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin should not finish his duty by writing a letter to the Union Government without taking measures to prevent it. As the fishermen of Rameswaram are on a war footing protesting the continued imprisonment of fishermen and boycotting the Kachchathivu Anthony temple festival, the chief minister should take constructive steps to resolve this issue. The demand is to go to New Delhi with all the party leaders and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him to find a permanent solution to the fishermen issue.