Hundreds of fishers, along with their families including children, participated in a protest seeking the Union government’s intervention to bring back 27 jailed fishermen and their five boats, impounded by Sri Lankan Navy personnel on October 14, 2023, while they were fishing along the Palk Bay.
Fishermen from different unions participated in the agitation held in front of the Post Office in Rameswaram on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
A fisherman leader, P. Jesu Raja, said that the Union government should consider the plight of the fishermen. “Our livelihood is at stake. Braving several odds, we have been venturing into the sea for our survival. We strictly adhere to the rules laid out by the governments of India and Sri Lanka. Even so, under some pretext or the other, these fishermen were held,” he said.
