Chennai: The AIADMK will stage a hunger strike on September 9 against the alleged failure of the Central and state governments to prevent the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Fishermen families of Tamil Nadu, including from Tuticorin, Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai, will also participate in the hunger strike, the AIADMK said in a statement.
AIADMK general secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) will lead the hunger strike in Chennai.
In a post on social media platform X, EPS said, “Twenty-two fishermen from Tuticorin were arrested last month by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly traversing into the Sri Lankan waters. Despite repeated requests to the state government to prevent them, no action has been initiated until now.”
He also said: “There were reports that a Sri Lankan court has already imposed a fine on 12 of the 22 fishermen, who were arrested, and will soon be pronouncing a judgement on the rest of 10 fishermen.”
Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly EPS said that despite the issue being a matter of livelihood for these fishermen, both the Tamil Nadu and the Central governments were “turning a blind eye”.
Recently, one fisherman was killed when the boat, in which he along with three others, was engaged in fishing near the Palk Bay after the Sri Lankan Navy boat chased them.
Of them, one fisherman, K. Malaisamy (59 ) died and another fisherman Ramachandran (60) went missing in the sea. Two others, M. Mookaiah (54) and R. Muthu Muniandi (57), were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy and later handed over to the Indian Navy ship, INS Bitra near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
A meeting of the fishermen leaders of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu was also convened.
P. R. Sesu Raja, a fishermen leader, while talking to media persons, said: “We have been fishing near the Katchatheevu islets for the past several decades and we should be allowed to fish uninterrupted.”
Around 87 Indian fishermen from the state were still in judicial custody in Sri Lanka.
In February, fishermen of Thangachimadam and Rameswaram areas, along with their families, had done a relay hunger over the issue
–IANS