Death of Indian fisherman in Sri Lankan waters: Rameswaram fishermen announce indefinite strike

Announcing an indefinite strike with immediate effect on Friday, August 2, the members of all fishermen associations in Rameswaram said they would resume work only when their grievances were redressed by the Tamil Nadu and Union governments.

An urgent meeting of various fishermen associations was held at Rameswaram under the leadership of Sagayam.

The meeting resolved to boycott fishing from today (Friday) until all the arrested fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who languished in Sri Lankan prisons, were released. The members stated that though the governments helped in release of the arrested fishermen in the past, the mechanised trawlers which were impounded, were not returned.

Hence, the governments should get back the mechanised boats, which were in good condition and provide compensation to those boats, which were beyond repair.

The meeting thanked Tamil Nadu government for immediately providing solatium of ₹10 lakh to the family members of fisherman K. Malaisamy (59), who had died in mid-sea after the boat was allegedly damaged by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel on Wednesday night.

Speaking to media persons, Mr. Sagayam said the Union government should come to the rescue of the fishermen as it involved their livelihood.

Thanking the government and the officials for carrying out search operation along the Palk Straits after another fisherman (among the four) went missing, he said that the government should give compensation within about 10 days to the family members irrespective of whether the fisherman was traced or not. The meeting passed a resolution to immediately release the two detained fishermen and appealed to the governments for their safe return.

Background

Following the death of Malaisamy, there was unrest in the coastal pockets since Thursday.

On Wednesday, four Tamil Nadu fishermen had ventured into the sea for fishing activities in a mechanised boat owned by Karthikeyan. As they were fishing near Neduntheevu islet, the surveillance vessel of the Sri Lankan Navy personnel allegedly hit against the fishermen’s boat in which it was badly damaged. As a result, the four fishermen fell in the sea.

During the incident, Malaisamy had died, while V. Ramachandran (64) was said to be missing. The Sri Lankan Navy personnel detained two other fishermen - Mookiah (54) and Muthu Muniandi (57) and took them for interrogation to Kankesanthurai.

Source: The Hindu
--Agencies