In the wake of arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote yet another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fourth in less than a month, seeking his intervention to secure the release of 57 fishermen from Tamil Nadu presently in Sri Lankan custody.
Taking up the latest detention of 17 fishermen from Nagapattinam on July 5 and 6 from Ramanathapuram the previous day for allegedly fishing in Lankan territorial waters, Jaya requested to evolve a ‘pragmatic’ and ‘permanent’ solution to end their woes.
Recalling her earlier attempts to resolve the issue, she said that the fishermen’s historic rights of fishing along Palk Bay was denied because of the ‘unconstitutional’ ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka under Indo-SL agreements of 1974 and 1976.
-NIE
-Agencies
