Agitated over a Sri Lankan court convicting and imprisoning four fishermen from Ramanathapuram on charges of poaching in its waters, over 1,000 fishermen from Rameswaram, Pamban, and Thangachimadam took out a massive procession from Rameswaram island to Ramanathapuram Collectorate on Tuesday.
They only dispersed after Ramanathapuram Collector B. Vishnu Chandran met them midway at Pamban and assured them that the State and Centre were taking efforts for the fishermen’s release. However, they warned that they would resume their procession from Pamban after a week if their demand was not met.
The fishermen took out the procession from the Rameswaram fishing harbour to hand over a petition to the Collector seeking the immediate release of the fishermen after several rounds of talks failed earlier. The protest was led by Sahayam, an office-bearer of the Mechanised Boats Fishermen Association.
