MDMK General Secretary Vaiko today staged a protest in Rameswaram urging the Indian government to take steps to ensure that Sri Lanka did not make amendments to its maritime law that could affect the lives of Tamil fishermen crossing maritime borders for fishing.
More than 500 people belonging to the fishing community besides Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (MDMK) volunteers took part in the protest led by Vaiko.
Slogans were raised asking the Centre to act against the proposed Sri lankan move.
“Lives of fishermen would be destroyed if the Sri Lankan legislation is enacted. They will have to pay fines up to Rs 7 crore,” the MDMK supremo said during the demonstration.
The agitators also sought the governments to take steps to protect the rights of the Indian fishermen.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday in New Delhi, MDMK chief urged him to use diplomatic channels to ensure the Sri Lankan government does not add tough penal provisions to a 1979 law that could affect the lives of Tamil fishermen crossing maritime borders.
The Sri Lankan government is mulling imposing fines as high as 150 million rupees on Indian fishermen poaching in the country’s waters, a senior Sri Lanka government official had said recently.
Source: PTI
-Agencies
