Condemning the Sri Lankan Navy and the island nation’s government, Tamil Nadu fishermen on Monday, March 18, 2024, appealed to the Union government to immediately intervene and stop the arrests of fishermen in Palk Bay.
An emergency meeting of fishermen from various associations was held in Rameswaram under the leadership of P. Jesu Raja. The meeting passed five resolutions unanimously. The members condemned the Sri Lankan Navy for its arrests and assaults. “We venture into the sea for our livelihoods. It has now become routine for the Sri Lankan Navy to arrest us. This amounts to victimising us. We are being arrested on false charges of poaching,” the fishers charged.
The meeting demanded the immediate release of 63 fishermen (26 from Rameswaram including the 21 held two days ago, 22 from Nagapattinam and Pudukottai and 15 from Karaikal), now jailed in Sri Lanka.
