Parroting the BJP’s view, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Sunday squarely blamed the then Congress government of Indira Gandhi and the DMK government of late M Karunanidhi in the state for ceding the Katchatheevu islet in the Palk Strait to Sri Lanka in 1974.
In attempt to needle the ruling DMK and its INDIA Bloc partner, Congress, the Governor charged that the ceding of Katchatheevu is the root cause for the travails of Indian fishermen who are attacked by the Lanan navy on the charge of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and fishing in the island nation’s waters.
The DMK government instead of politicising the issue and faulting the Union Government should adopt a constructive approach, he suggested and said: “After all it is the party ruling the state today as an ally of the then Central Government was equally responsible for the wrong in 1974.”
“They (fishermen) are victims of an iniquitous agreement of 1974 which was extremely insensitive to the livelihood concerns of our fishermen. The then governments in Delhi and Chennai committed a grave sin by depriving our fishermen of their traditional fishing rights in the sea around Katchatheevu island,” Ravi wrote in a post on the Raj Bhavan X handle.
“Since then, our fishing community has been suffering enduring hardship. They are arrested and their boats confiscated by Sri Lankan authorities. This enduring problem has to have an enduring solution,” Ravi emphasised.
Interestingly, this comes a day after his visit to Rameswaram, where he interacted with the fishing community. Earlier, during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had blamed the DMK and the Congress for ceding Katchatheevu and leaving the fishermen in dire straits.
Under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1974, the tiny barren rocky islet was ceded to Colombo in exchange for the Wadge Bank, rich in marine resources and hydrocarbon deposits, down Kanniyakumari. There is a St Antony’s church on the islet and for the annual festival fishermen from Tamil Nadu are permitted.
Now, in a continuing crackdown on Indian vessels fishing in Sr Lankan waters, the island navy last week arrested 32 fishermen and impounded their five boats. The crackdown has been intensified after the new government of Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed office.
Responding to thGovernor’s tirade against the DMK, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathi asked him to desist from peddling stories on Katchatheevu. “Even during the LS polls Prime Minister Modi had raked it up, but the BJP suffered a humiliating defeat. The PM is very much concerned about Katchatheevu ceded in 1974, but he is a mute spectator to China occupying 2000 sq miles of our territory,” he said and questioned what happened to the BJP’s assurance to retrieve Katchatheevu through legal means.
Further, he asked the governor to refrain from engaging in politics and leave it to BJP president K Annamalai rather than competing with him.