M. Karunanidhi yesterday called upon Indian political parties to raise the arrest of Tamil fishermen regularly by the Sri Lankan Navy in the current session of Parliament, the Hindu newspaper reported.
“Bring pressure on the Centre to find a solution to the problems of fishermen,” he said.
In a statement here, he said the arrest of 14 fishermen on Sunday had shattered the celebration of the release of five fishermen sentenced to death by the Sri Lankan High Court.
He said the fishermen was fishing in the international water when the Sri Lankan Navy asked them to leave and they immediately obliged. But four fishermen, whose boat had run out of diesel, were captured by the Sri Lankan Navy near Katchatheevu. Another ten fishermen and their boats were captured.
Mr Karunanidhi said the Rameshwaram fishermen had reiterated that they had not cross the Indian border following a request from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who they had met last week.
“Already 24 fishermen are languishing in Sri Lankan prisons and 82 boats were yet to be released. Now the Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 14 fishermen even though they have confined their fishing in Indian waters,” he said.
