Chennai: India cannot continue to be seen as a mute spectator as the rights of Indian fishermen are repeatedly trampled upon, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
In a letter to India's External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar, citing the attack on Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan nationals, Stalin said: "I am constrained to point out that these incidents of attacks by Sri Lankan Nationals are disconcerting. This has become a matter of life and death for thousands of our fisherfolk whose livelihood is under serious threat."
"India cannot continue to be seen as a mute spectator as the rights of Indian fishermen are repeatedly trampled upon," Stalin said.
He urged the Indian government to take this up with the Sri Lankan Government in a stern manner such that acts of physical assault and robbing or damaging of assets of Tamil Nadu fishermen does not take place in future.
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On January 23, three Indian fishermen from Nagapattinam District were attacked by a group of unidentified Sri Lankan nationals around 9 p.m., while they were fishing near 16 Nm from Southeast of Vedaranyam coast, Stalin said.
In this attack, they were robbed of a 300 kg fishing net, GPS & VHF equipment, 30 litres of diesel and also were physically attacked. The injured fishermen are undergoing treatment in Government Hospital, Vedaranyam, he added.
(IANS)
