CHENNAI: India has strongly protested the killing allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy personnel, of a fisherman from Tamil Nadu on Wednesday night close to the international maritime boundary. Sri Lankan High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam wasx summoned on Thursday by the Indian Government and strongly conveyed such incidents have no "justification" and asked Colombo to "exercise maximum restraint and avoid use of force."
Sri Lankan Navy, however, denied that its personnel had fired at Indian fishermen. "No such incident had been reported," Lankan Navy spokesperson Athula Senarth said. High Commissioner Kariyawasam added that the (Sri Lankan) Navy is under strict orders never to fire at fishermen even if they cross international boundary line towards Sri Lanka. He said an inquiry would be conducted.
External affairs minister S M Krishna has sought a detailed report from the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo.
The Chief Minister M Karunanidhi also protested and wrote a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to intervene against what he called the "atrocities of the Lankan Navy". The issue dominated with heated debates in the state assembly.
The Sri Lankan Navy had apparently opened fire on a group of TN fishermen off the Jegadapatnam coast in Pudukottai, killing 25-year-old Veerapandian.
Veerapandian, a native of Chinnakudi village near Tarangampadi in Nagapattinam district had gone fishing with three others -- C Baskaran (52), M Meyyappan alias Manivannan (26) and M Manikandan (25) -- in a mechanized boat on Wednesday morning, according to A Jambunathan, assistant director in the state fisheries department. They were preparing to return when they were intercepted by a Sri Lankan navy vessel late in the evening. The Navy personnel ordered the fishermen to jump into the sea. Meyyappan and Manikandan jumped into the sea immediately. Pandian waited to remove his clothes and was fired upon by the navy personnel. He was hit on the chest and collapsed in the boat. The fishermen claimed that they were on the Indian side of the International Maritime Border Line.
The incident led to tension in fishing hamlets in Jegathapattinam. Protests subsided only after district collector A Suganthi and other senior officials assured the protestors that their demand for compensation and a government job for the dead person s kin would be met.
All political parties condemned the incident when it was raised in the state assembly. D Jayakumar (AIADMK) slammed the DMK for the "continued killing" of fishermen from the state by Sri Lankan Navy and asked "whether the state government will just stop with writing letters to Centre or would take any action."
V Sivapunniyam (CPI) criticised the Centre for its "inaction" to protect Tamil Nadu fishermen. Ravikumar (VCK) demanded scrapping the Katchatheevu agreement. C Gnandesikan of the Congress wanted illuminated buoys to be deployed on the international maritime boundary line to help fishermen stay within Indian waters whereas PMK's Velmurugan wanted murder cases registered against Sri Lankan naval personnel.
Replying to the calling attention motion moved by various parties, deputy chief minister M K Stalin said that despite the state government's repeated demands to the Centre to end attacks on fishermen "which were duly conveyed by the Centre to Sri Lankan government" such incidents have continued. He said the state government has sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the family of Veerapandian and a government job for his kin.
Several fishermen from the state have been allegedly killed by Sri Lankan navy personnel in the past. Sri Lankan navy had been patrolling the Palk Straits to prevent movement of LTTE cadres across the international boundary. Fishermen complain that the Lankan navy continued to harass them even after the defeat of the LTTE. Recently, they had pleaded with the two governments to let them cross the international boundary and fish.
The Centre has been maintaining that the firing incidents had come down since the October 2008 bilateral understanding between the two countries but cautioned Tamil Nadu fishermen not to cross India's maritime boundary, especially in those areas designated as "sensitive" by Sri Lanka.
No comments:
Post a Comment