Ramanathapuram district fishermen have threatened to submit all documents relating to their Indian citizenship to the district collector on February 2, if the Centre failed to secure the release of all the fishermen from Tamil Nadu lodged in Sri Lankan jails..
At a meeting of the All Mechanized Boats Fishermen Associations, led by its secretary, P. Sesuraja, held on Monday, the fishers expressed their anguish against the Sri Lankan government’s announcement of auctioning the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen that were seized by the Sri Lankan Navy between 2015 and 2018.
“Every boat has been created by the blood and sweat of fishermen and it is the basis of our livelihoods,” the resolution said. The boats belong to the Indian government and Sri Lanka should not unilaterally auction the confiscated boats.The fishermen demanded that the Centre immediately intervene and stop the auctioning.
Recalling that the Tamil Nadu government had announced compensation for the boats seized by the Sri Lankan navy, the fishermen wanted the Centre to also announce a similar relief measure for the fishermen.
Besides, the Centre should take efforts to release the fishermen languishing in Sri Lankan jails along with their boats. The Centre should also give permission for salvaging a fishing boat from Thangachimadam that was recently forced to sink in the high seas by the Sri Lankan Navy.
If these demands were not met before February 2, the fishermen would go on strike on February 2 and give up all their documents of Indian citizenship, they said.
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