Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union Government to initiate steps to retrieve Katchatheevu island, ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974. The resolution moved by Chief Minister M K Stalin said: “Retrieval of Katchatheevu island is the only permanent solution to protect the traditional fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen and to mitigate the sufferings faced by them due to the Sri Lankan Navy.”
Significantly, the resolution was adopted ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka and subsequent visit to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, which has a huge fishermen population.
“The Union Government must immediately review the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1974 and retrieve Katchatheevu. The Prime Minister must hold talks with the Sri Lankan Government to secure the release of all Tamil fishermen and their impounded boats on a goodwill basis during his visit to Sri Lanka,” the resolution said.
Stalin said the continuing attacks on Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy has become an unending tragedy, despite there being a political change in Sri Lanka. “The Union government often forgets that fishermen from Tamil Nadu are also Indian fishermen. Therefore, I emphasise that they are Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu. Before the 2014 Parliamentary elections, Mr. Modi said not a single fisherman would be arrested if the BJP comes to power. Yet, the attacks continue unabated,” he said.
The Chief Minister pointed out last year alone 530 fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and many of them were awarded maximum prison sentences and imposed hefty fines. The Centre must act and stop such arrests, he added.
