The Rameswaram fishermen have appealed to the Union government to immediately intervene with the Sri Lankan government and bring home the jailed fishermen in the island nation, here on Thursday.
When the fishermen had announced indefinite boycott of their work since February 17 condemning the arrests by Sri Lankan Navy personnel on ‘false’ charges of poaching, the new move of sentencing the fishermen (boat drivers) and those who repeatedly committed the offence for six months and one year in jails by the Sri Lankan courts had come as a shock to the fisherfolk.
On February 2, in two different incidents, 42 fishermen (23 and 19) were arrested and four of their mechanised trawlers were impounded by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel near Neduntheevu islet. They were produced before a court, which remanded them in judicial custody for 15 days.
