Seeking the expeditious release of 17 fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on the charge of casting their nets in the island nation’s territorial waters in the narrow Palk Strait, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take diplomatic steps to resolve the perennial issue faced by Tamil Nadu fishers.

This arrest is the latest, close on the heels of visiting Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreeing to find a lasting solution to the issue in a humanitarian manner, factoring livelihood concerns. The joint-statement released during Anura’s visit earlier this month also made it clear to avoid any ‘aggressive behavior or violence’.

Advertisement

In a letter to the External Affairs Minister, the Chief Minister said the 17 fishermen from Rameswaram were apprehended and their two mechanised boats seized by the island navy on Tuesday. Further, he drew the attention of Jaishankar to the attack in mid sea on the fishermen from Kodiakkarai in Nagapattinam district who had ventured out in two country boats by six unidentified Sri Lankan nationals. Of the six Indian fishermen, three were injured and the attackers have robbed them of their fishing catch, nets, VHF and GPF equipment and mobile phones.

“These kinds of frequent incidents of arrests and attacks makes the lives of our fishermen, who depend solely on fishing in their traditional waters, highly uncertain and dangerous. In 2024 alone 530 fishermen were arrested and 71 boats have been confiscated till date. The recent apprehensions and attacks have created a sense of fear among the fishing folks who are solely dependent upon fishing for their livelihood,” he said, and requested to take concerted steps through appropriate diplomatic channels to secure the release of all the arrested fishermen and their fishing boats. He also urged the Union Minister to ensure that such attacks do not recur.

Sri Lanka continues to maintain that Indian fishermen are apprehended for engaging in fishing in the island nation’s territorial waters beyond the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Tamil fishermen on the other side of the Palk Strait in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern Province have been demanding that Colombo put down with an iron hand the proscribed bottom trawling engaged in by their brethren from Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Fishermen from Jaffna to Batticaloa have returned to fishing after the end of three-decade long civil war and feel threatened for their livelihood by their brethren from the other side carrying out bottom trawling.