Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has urged the Union government to secure the immediate release of the 25 fishermen arrested on Monday by the Sri Lankan Navy instead of blaming the past and hiding behind it, emphasising the need to work towards a lasting solution to the festering issue.

For the first time in recent years, fishermen of country boats have been arrested and their vessels impounded by the island navy on the charge of fishing in their territorial waters off Neduntheevu (Deft island). The 25 fishers from Ramanathapuram district set sail in two country boats and two other motorised country boats on Sunday night.

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This is the fifth such arrest by the island navy after the fishers ventured into the sea following the conclusion of a 61-day mandatory fishing ban. Their arrest in mid-sea triggered protests with fishermen of Pamban resorting to a road blockade on Monday on the Madurai-Rameswaram Highway.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Chief Minister, urged the Union government to secure the immediate release of 25 fishermen while making efforts to find a permanent solution to the vexed problem. He was referring to Jaishankar’s earlier missive dated June 26, in which he had mentioned that the ‘genesis of the problem goes back to 1974 following the understanding between the then Union government (Indira Gandhi government) and the state government (Karunanidhi government). In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Modi and Jaishankar raked up the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka to corner both the Congress and the DMK.

Taking exception to the External Affairs Minister’s remark, Stalin said, “…The DMK-led state government opposed the Katchatheevu Agreement tooth and nail and its opposition to the same was made clear both in the Tamil Nadu Assembly and Parliament. The fact that the state government was not properly consulted in this regard is well known… Karunanidhi had even filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India and categorically stated that “when the entire exercise undertaken by the Government of India is devoid of constitutionality, it cannot be said the sovereignty of Katchatheevu island is a settled matter.”

Stalin further charged the BJP of not making any tangible or meaningful effort to solve the problem despite the government led by it being in power for the third consecutive term, except using the issue for election time rhetoric. A lasting solution that ensures the traditional rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait is necessary and the Union government should take concrete steps towards that, he added.

There is a chorus among the political parties in the state for the retrieval of Katchatheevu to put an end to the festering issue. But, according to analysts marine wealth has been depleted in the Indian shores and around Katchatheevu due to bottom trawling in the narrow Palk Strait. The Tamil fishermen of northern Sri Lanka, who have commenced fishing after three decades of civil war, are opposed to bottom trawling in their waters by Tamil Nadu fishermen. Talks, including fishermen representatives of both the countries and officials, held so far have failed to yield any solution.