Tamil Lankan prisoners go on indefinite fast

The Sri Lankan navy on Wednesday said it assisted Coast Guard to arrest 9 Indian fishermen in a fishing trawler for allegedly violating the worldwide Maritime Boundary Line and poaching in Sri Lankan waters.

The Chief Minister said she had hoped that after the change of regime in Lanka there would be a positive change in the hostile environment created for Tamil Nadu fishermen while fishing in their traditional waters, and that the aggressive actions of the Sri Lankan Navy would cease.

Jayalalithaa on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking “immediate release” of 102 Tamil fishermen now under Sri Lankan custody. Unfortunately, such incidents of apprehension of Tamil Nadu fishermen present no indicators of abating and proceed with painful regularity.

In the meantime, the National Fish workers Forum (NFF) in India had earlier appealed to Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to take steps to release 35 Indian fishermen who have been languishing in prisons in Sri Lanka. “You will agree that that is unacceptable state of affairs which has to be remedied via a set of complete measures together with securing the pressing launch of the fishermen in custody”, Jayalalithaa stated. “This is the seventh instance of arrest and remand of innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy within a span of three weeks”, she said expressing shock. “The issue thus requires urgent intervention not merely at a diplomatic level, but also at the highest political level”, she said.

The NFF also demanded that the Indian government arrange a meeting between the fishermen of the two countries, officials of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and the North and East provinces in Sri Lanka and find a solution to the problems faced by them through dialogue. “I request you to take immediate action to secure the release of our 87 fishermen and 39 boats”.