Striking work for a day on Saturday, fishermen and their family members staged a demonstration in front of the bus stand in Rameswaram, urging the State and Central governments to secure the release of fishermen incarcerated in Sri Lankan prisons for more than 100 days after they were arrested by the Lankan navy on the charge of trespassing into their waters.

Led by fishermen leaders, including N. J. Bose and P. Sesu Raja, a large number of fishermen and their family members, including women and children, staged the protest, highlighting that the jailed fishermen were suffering from chicken pox and mental illness without basic facilities in prisons.

After the family members of the arrested fishermen presented petitions to the Collector on March 26, they were hopeful of their release before Easter but their hopes were dashed, said fishermen leaders. “It is unfortunate that both the State and Central governments have remained unmoved to our plight,” they said.

It was also a matter of concern that the Joint Working Group, which was supposed to meet in January to discuss their problems, continued to be indifferent, they alleged.

In all, 27 fishermen – 19 from Rameswaram and eight from Pudukottai – had been detained in the Lankan prisons and they were suffering for want of proper food and basic facilities, they said. As the arrested fishermen were breadwinners, their families struggled to make both ends meet, they added.

The protest was also to press for the release of more than 160 trawlers detained in Sri Lanka for about three years.

The trawlers should be salvaged before they suffered extensive damage. The leaders said they could not afford to go on an indefinite strike, as they were left with only a few more fishing days, ahead of the 61-day ban period from middle of April.

Source: The Hindu

-Agencies