Acting on the directions of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, 61 more fishermen from Sri Lanka were released from Tamil Nadu prisons on Friday.
The move came after a Sri Lankan court ordered the release of 121 Tamil Nadu fishermen earlier in the day.
According to an official release, the 121 fishermen would reach Tamil Nadu within a day or two.
Both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka have already released 52 fishermen each, who were mutually repartriated to their countries on January 16. Of the 52 fishermen, 30 were from Tamil Nadu and 22 were from Puducherry.
Meeting Postponed
In Colombo, Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries Rajitha Senaratne told Express that the meeting between representatives of fishermen of Sri Lanka and India which was to be held in Chennai on January 20, has been postponed to January 27. On Friday, a magistrate in the Eastern district of Trincomalee released 111 fishermen. Likewise, a magistrate in Mannar released 10.
Meanwhile, the custody of 17 Pudukkottai fishermen arrested by the Lankan Navy has been extended till January 29 by the Mallakam District Court. An official said one of the released fisherman, who could not be repatriated along with the first batch due a heart problem, has now been declared fit to travel.
He will be clubbed with the 121 to be repatriated shortly.
Cross-Border Fishing
Senaratne said that if the Indian fishermen do not indulge in bottom trawling, the Sri Lankan government may “consider” allowing them to fish in Lankan waters, say for three days in a week, on a reciprocal basis.
“But the Tamil Nadu fishermen will be reluctant to eschew bottom trawling because they use only bottom trawling. The proposal will not find favour with North Lankan Tamil fishermen also, because they are resolutely opposed to Indian intrusion in Lankan waters,” Senaratne said.
Earlier, B Deniswaran, Minister of Fisheries of the Northern Province, had said that TN and Puducherry fishermen should be allowed to fish in Lankan waters for a day in a week, if they do not indulge in bottom trawling. “I will discuss this when I meet minister Senaratne in Colombo,” Deniswaran said. - ENS
