Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai will meet Union Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Monday, along with fishermen representatives.
This visit is to petition the Union Minister about the regular attacks on Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy in mid-sea.
Recently, a fisherman was killed while the boat in which he was fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) was subject to attack by the Sri Lankan Navy. While the deceased is identified as Malaisami two other fishermen of the same boat, Muthu Maniyandi and Mookaiya were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and later handed over to Indian authorities.
At present, 87 fishermen and 120 mechanised boats from Tamil Nadu are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy.
Annamalai taking the fishermen’s representatives to New Delhi and holding a meeting with the Union Minister for External Affairs is a move that would give a major setback to the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu.
Fishermen of Ramanathapuram district are on an indefinite strike following the death of Malaisami and are not entering the seas for fishing.
Tamil Selvam, a fisherman from Ramanathapuram, while speaking to IANS said: “Sri Lankan Navy is creating major problems for us in the sea, and even if we are not crossing the IMBL and are well within Indian waters, we have been targeted. We are not able to venture out into the sea for our daily living and this has to stop. Both Central and state governments should work in unison and make sure that we are in a comfortable fishing zone.”
–IANS