Rameswaram
Fishermen in Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram on Sunday staged a protest condemning the imprisonment and attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen. Earlier on July 20, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested six Indian fishermen and a seized their boat after they had gone fishing from Rameswaram, claiming that they had crossed the border, which had caused consternation among Indian fishermen. Following this, the Rameswaram fishermen have been on a strike for the past three days, condemning the serial attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy on the Tamil Nadu fishermen, and their engagement in the violations of an agreement including the capture of the fishermen, seizure of the boat, and demanding the immediate release of the captured fishermen and their boat. Fishermen protested in front of the Rameswaram bus stand, condemning the Lankan Navy, which is engaged in violations against the Katchatheevu Agreement with an anarchic trend, and criticised the central and state governments for not opposing it. The protest was led by All Fishermen’s Union President NJ Bose. We have organized this protest to draw the attention of central and state governments to intervene and solve the problem, NJ Bose said threatening that if further action was not taken, their protest will take a different form . Fishermen’s Association President N. Devadas, District Fishermen’s Association Secretary Jesuraj, Fishermen’s Association President Eamerit, Fishermen’s Association in-charge Sagayam and all the fishermen’s association executives and a large number of fishermen took part in the Rameswaram protest and raised slogans emphasizing the demands. Earlier, 12 Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing illegally in the country’s territorial waters. Following that, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take appropriate action for the immediate release of 12 Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy.
