The link between the zamindari (estate) right of the Raja of Ramnad and sovereignty, or the absence of it, has all along marked the debate over the contentious Katchatheevu islet.
The island has become a poll issue ahead of the upcoming general elections in India, with the BJP slamming the Congress government for having ceded the island to Sri Lanka.
Though the 1974 bilateral agreement between India and Sri Lanka settled the issue in favour of the latter, those who even now demand the “retrieval” of the islet cite the historical fact that Katchatheevu was part of the estate of Raja of Ramnad, the position of which was never in doubt. With the abolition of estates immediately after Independence, all the possessions in the form of estates in the State were transferred to the Tamil Nadu government and this was how it had become part of India. Therefore, the agreement between India and Sri Lanka, giving Sri Lanka sovereignty over the island, should never have taken place, is what advocates of the “retrieval” demand say.
