Incidents of Tamil Nadu fishermen being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy are becoming a series of stories. The incident that took place this morning (June 23) has again caused chaos in that row. The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 18 Tamil Nadu fishermen for crossing the border and catching fish near Kachchathivu. Due to this, the fishermen families are deeply shocked.
Ongoing fishermen problem
All the arrested Tamil Nadu fishermen were taken to Kangesan port. Arrest of fishermen is a decades-long issue between India and Sri Lanka. It is often said that the starting point for this was when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handed over Kachchathivi, which belonged to India, to Sri Lanka.
Election Time Controversy
It is worth noting that recently the Tamil Nadu BJP raised the Kachchathivu issue in connection with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the last few months, Tamil Nadu fishermen have been arrested one after another. In this regard, Chief Minister M.K.Stalin wrote a letter to Union External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar on June 19.
M. K. Stalin’s letter
4 Tamil Nadu fishermen who went fishing in a boat from Kottapattinam fishing harbor in Pudukottai district were arrested. Their fishing boats were also seized. Until then, the number of fishermen in Tamil Nadu at the disposal of the Sri Lankan Navy was 15 and the number of fishing boats was 162.
Fishermen suffer
It was urged that the central government should take appropriate diplomatic action to rescue the fishermen and boats. There are expectations on the next steps taken by Delhi in this matter. In this regard, the fishermen are also continuously protesting and submitting petitions to the central and state governments. But a permanent solution is elusive.
A long-term solution
It is necessary for the leaders of the two countries to hold several rounds of talks so that there is no dispute on the sea border, so that Tamil Nadu fishermen are not harmed. This should be done on a long-term basis. Therefore, we have to wait and see the next steps in the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen.
