Condemning the Union government for not coming to the rescue of the fishermen in Tamil Nadu who were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy personnel on “false” charges of poaching, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent assistance to the tune of ₹34,000 crore to the “ailing” island nation, said DMK organising secretary R.S. Bharathi at Rameswaram on Sunday, .February 11, 2024.
Speaking at a demonstration meeting organised by the party’s fishermen wing from Ramanathapuram district, in which fishermen leaders from Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Pudukottai and Nagapattinam districts also participated, he said the BJP government, instead of protecting the fishermen, indulged in politics through Ram Temple.
After 42 fishermen were arrested in the last fortnight, in two different incidents, from Rameswaram when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin directed the DMK MPs to raise the issue in the Parliament, the subject was “disallowed” and instead the session was attributed to discuss on Ram Temple.
Recently, the PM had come here to Rameswaram and visited a few temples and refused to meet the fishermen leaders here when the issue was burning. This showed the “arrogance” and the scant respect towards the downtrodden people of Tamil Nadu, he charged and added that in the last decade, a whopping 3,076 fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. The trawlers, numbering over 500, were also impounded, but not returned.
Attacking the Prime Minister, he further said that when floods had destroyed many districts in Tamil Nadu, the Union government refused to give aid and sent assistance to Sri Lanka, which arrested the fishermen from here, he added.
The people of Tamil Nadu would never vote for the BJP as it was not only anti-Tamils, but also deceived the people with false promises. He pointed out that the people here had cast their votes to Muthuramalingam (DMK). In Tiruchendur, they had voted for Anita Radhakrishnan.
Hence, the BJP has no place in Tamil Nadu and very soon, they would be shown doors in other States as well in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Bharathi said and hoped that a new government at the Centre would bring in a change for good for the fishermen.
The DMK leader further said that in 2016, the Sri Lankan Navy opened fire in mid-sea and killed a fisherman from Tamil Nadu. “As a result, the country was now suffering due to failing economy there. Anyone, who hated Tamils or attacked the people from this land of Periyar, would suffer for sure,” he said.
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also came in for criticism in the meeting. Speakers said that she gave tall promises on giving relief to the fishermen community, but did nothing. There were aplenty of issues on the GST regime too, which were hitting the common man very much. In a nutshell, the BJP government was in power to help only their “friends” by getting contracts in Sri Lanka, they charged.
