In yet another incident, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested 32 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and impounded five of their trawlers along the Palk Strait, on the night of Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
Officials said the T.N. Fisheries Department offcials had issued 484 tokens to mechanised trawlers on Wednesday morning. Following this, fishermen had ventured into the sea.
At around 7 p.m., Sri Lankan Navy personnel on surveillance duty reportedly detained 25 fishermen, who were engaged in fishing in three trawlers near the Neduntheevu islet, on charges of poaching. After preliminary inquiries, they were taken to the nearest port, Mannar, for further investigations.
Close on the heels of this, in a separate incident, seven fishermen in two trawlers, who were also fishing in the Palk Strait, were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy. According to fishermen leader P. Jesu Raja, these arrested fishermen were taken to the Kankesanthurai Port for interrogation and subsequent judicial custody.
This is at least the fifth such incident in March alone, and at the least the eighth this year, of fishermen from coastal districts of Tamil Nadu being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. Just in the past week, on March 16, 21 fishermen from Rameswaram were arrested and two trawlers impounded; while on March 15, 15 fishermen from Karaikal and Nagapattinam were arrested.
Mr. Jesu Raja said that it was high time the Indian government held talks with its counterparts in Sri Lanka and brought an end to this issue. “Our livelihood is at stake. The fishers’ families, back home, are silent sufferers. While the men are languishing in the prisons in Sri Lanka, the women are forced to make ends meet for their families,” he said.
It may be recalled that fishermen in Rameswaram have announced that they will stage a demonstration in Rameswaram on Tuesday, March 26, to draw the attention of the Union government towards this issue.
The 61-day annual ban on fishing in the Palk Strait likely to be announced next month.
