Chennai: Hours after the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 10 fishermen from Rameswaram for allegedly trespassing into its territorial waters, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urged Union External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to take steps to ensure their immediate release.
The Sri Lankan Navy had also seized three mechanised fishing boats during a late-night operation on Wednesday. Stalin, in a letter to Jaishankar sought effective diplomatic measures to secure the release of the fishermen and their vessels. He asked the Union Minister to convene a Joint Working Group meeting to find a permanent diplomatic solution to the issue. "I now write this to draw your attention to yet another incident of apprehension of 10 of our fishermen along with their fishing boats by the Sri Lankan Navy on February 19. The fishermen who had ventured for fishing from Rameswaram fishing harbour were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy along with their three mechanised fishing boats bearing registration number IND-TN-10-MM-943, IND-TN-10-MM-936 and IND-TN-10-MM-722," Staling stated in his letter.
The Chief Minister said instances of arrests of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy have risen in the last few months and immediate and continued diplomatic action has to be taken to stop such incidents as it affects the livelihood of the fishermen and their families for a long duration. "I therefore request you to kindly take effective diplomatic measures to prevent the arrests of the fishermen and to secure the release of all the apprehended fishermen and their fishing boats from the Sri Lankan authorities. At this juncture, I would once again like to reiterate the need for convening the Joint Working Group meeting to find a permanent diplomatic solution for this persistent issue," he said in the letter.
Following the arrests, the families of the fishermen, along with local fishing communities, had urged both the Central and state governments to take immediate action to secure their release. Fishermen's association leaders had warned of protests in Rameswaram and other coastal areas condemning the continued arrests.
