Tamil Nadu Govt Urgent Resolution to Convene India-Sri Lanka Cooperation Committee Meeting
Anita R. Radhakrishnan, Minister of Fisheries - Fishermen's Welfare and Animal Husbandry, has said that the rescue team set up to bring the 10 boats under rescue to Tamil Nadu should be allowed to go to Sri Lanka.
Anita R. Radhakrishnan, Minister of Fisheries - Fishermen's Welfare and Animal Husbandry, has issued a statement regarding the Tamil Nadu - Sri Lankan fishermen issue. In that statement, he said: The international maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka is very narrow in the Pak Strait. When the fishermen from the Gulf region especially Ramanathapuram Pudukottai, Thanjavur, and Nagapattinam districts are engaged in fishing, their boat has to cross the International Boundary Line due to natural disasters and mechanical failure. On these occasions, Tamil Nadu fishermen are attacked and arrested by the Sri Lankan army.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has been urging the Union Prime Minister and the Union Minister of External Affairs to take immediate action when Tamil Nadu fishermen are being harassed and arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. In such incidents of attack and arrest, the central government intervened and requested the immediate release of the Tamil Nadu fishermen and boats arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The Sri Lankan government has been releasing only the fishermen from time to time and is continuing to nationalize the boats. Fishermen who lost their boats lost their livelihood and suffered greatly. As of now, there are 49 fishermen and 151 fishing boats under the control of the Sri Lankan government in Sri Lankan prisons.
Of the 151 boats captured, 12 have been released by the Sri Lankan courts. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu ordered the formation of a rescue committee on October 2023 to rescue all 10 boats under rescue and bring them to Tamil Nadu.
However, to date, the central government has not given permission for the Tamilnadu rescue team to go to Sri Lanka and bring the rescued boats to Tamilnadu. Similarly, the Indo-Srilankan Joint Working Committee meeting held to solve the problems between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan fishermen has not been held since 25/03/2022.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has been urging the Central Government to take steps to hold this meeting. However, the central government is acting in a transparent manner on the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen without considering Tamil Nadu fishermen as Indian fishermen.
With the aim of deceiving the fishermen for political reasons, Central Ministers go to Rameswaram areas from time to time and meet the fishermen and promise to return the boats captured by the Sri Lankan government, and the Bharatiya Janata Party takes fishermen's representatives to Delhi to meet the Central Ministers from time to time.
But the fact remains that no concrete steps have been taken by the central government to rescue the captured boats in Sri Lanka. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has protected the livelihood of the fishermen by providing Rs 6.84 crore as compensation to 152 fishing boats captured and damaged by the Sri Lankan government.
Therefore, the central government, which does not care about the fishermen of Tamil Nadu, should immediately release the boats captured by the Sri Lankan government without further delay and give immediate permission to the rescue team set up to bring the 10 boats released by the Sri Lankan court to Tamil Nadu to bring them to Tamil Nadu.
Similarly, I request the Central Government to immediately hold the Indo-Sri Lankan Joint Committee meeting, which has not been held for a long time, so that the fishermen of both countries can engage in fishing without fear in the Indian Sri Lankan waters.