New Delhi/Rameswaram(Tamil Nadu): India is taking up at the highest level to bring back all detained fishermen from Sri Lanka along with their boats, including 16 who are currently in their custody. The Lankan Navy on Thursday had arrested 16 Indian fishermen hailing from Tamil Nadu for alleged violation of its maritime boundary. Officials said 12 of the fishermen were picked up while fishing near Katchatheevu and the rest from Gulf of Mannar.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan also said in Lok Sabha that the safety and security of every Indian is a matter of utmost importance for the government and it is bringing back every Indian in distress from anywhere in the world. He said as many as 170 fishermen were detained by the Sri Lankan authorities in last two years and all of them, except 16, were brought back from the island nation.
Barring 16, we have brought back all of the fishermen from Sri Lanka. We are continuously working with Sri Lanka to bring back everyone, including the 16 fishermen currently held, he said during Question Hour. Several MPs from Tamil Nadu have raised the issue, as the detained fishermen were from that state, and sought the government's intervention for their early release and repatriation.
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Murleedharan said the government has been taking up at the highest level (in Sri Lanka) the issue of detained fishermen that include 2+2 meeting between Foreign Ministers and Fisheries Ministers of the two countries. We also have joint working group. The joint working group is meeting today. The Indian High Commission also seeks consular access and provide essential items to the fishermen in custody, he said.
The minister said whenever any issue of detention of fishermen comes up, the government takes up it with the concerned authorities, get consular access, provide provisions to the detained people and take all possible steps for their repatriation along with their boats.
Referring to the recent repatriation of 61 fishermen from Seychelles, Murleedharan said as soon as the government came to know about them 56 of them were from Tamil Nadu while rest were from Assam and Kerala action has been taken and through a series of interventions all of them were freed and brought back home on board an Indian Air Force aircraft.
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Fishermen protest in Rameswaram
Protests have erupted in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram against the arrest of 16 fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. As part of the protests, 800 fishing boats did not venture out to the sea on Thursday. The arrested fishermen were from Rameswaram and Mandapam.
While speaking to IANS, Yesudas S Arokyasami, a fisherman from Rameswaram, said: "Even as more than 82 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy since the beginning of 2022, the Central and state governments are not doing much against this. We are not going to the sea for fishing as a mark of protest against this injustice to fishermen from our state.
"He said although the Centre has helped the crisis-hit Sri Lankan government with funds, the island nation is yet to reciprocate the Indian gesture. Yesudas said that in the deep sea, the fishermen from Sri Lanka are now pleading with the Indian fishermen for uncooked rice and even liquor. He said that during earlier times, the Sri Lankan fishermen used to be very arrogant but now they have changed due to the heavy crisis faced by the island nation. The fisherman however upon both the Central government and Tamil Nadu government to immediately act on the matter and to put an end to the issue.
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"Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu are facing the brunt even after Sri Lanka was pleading with the Indian government for financial support. These attacks and regular arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankans cannot be accepted and we are calling off work for the day as a token protest and this will continue if inaction continues," said Mathew Arumugham, a fisherman from Rameswaram.
With the issue of Indian fishermen being arrested by Sri Lankan authorities over the crossing of International Maritime Boundary Line( IMBL) turning into a hot subject, the fishermen from Rameswaram are jacking up pressure on both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to bring about a permanent solution to the matter.
(with Agency inputs)
