Chennai, Jan 1 (IANS) A total of 20 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were imprisoned in Sri Lanka for more than a year, have been finally released and arrived in Chennai via a flight.
The fishermen, who hailed from the districts of Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, and Tuticorin, were detained in Sri Lankan custody.
After negotiations between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments, the Sri Lankan government released the 20 fishermen. They were handed over to Indian Embassy officials, who provided them with temporary citizenship certificates.
The fishermen were then flown from Colombo to the Chennai airport.
Upon arrival at the Chennai airport, the fishermen underwent citizenship verification, customs checks, and other formalities before being released. They were then greeted by Fisheries Department officials, who arranged for them to be taken to their hometowns in separate vehicles.
Earlier on December 24, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, wrote to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar urging him to take immediate diplomatic efforts for the release of all 20 Indian fishermen from the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy along with their mechanised boats.
Stalin in a letter to the Union Minister on Tuesday (December 24) sought his immediate intervention in the release of 17 fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the mechanised boats bearing numbers — IND-TN-10-MM-206 and IND-TN-10-MM-543 of the fishermen were also in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy and requested the Union Minister to immediately help secure the release.
In the letter, he pointed out that frequent arrests and attacks make the lives of ‘our’ fishermen, who depend solely on fishing in their traditional waters, highly uncertain and dangerous.
CM Stalin in the letter pointed out that 530 fishermen were arrested and 71 boats have been confiscated to date in 2024 alone and that the recent apprehensions and attacks have created a sense of fear among the fishing community.
The Chief Minister in the letter also said that he was requesting the External Affairs Minister to take concerted steps through appropriate diplomatic channels to secure the immediate release of all the arrested fishermen and their fishing boats.
Stalin said, “I also request that diplomatic steps may be taken to ensure that such attacks do not occur in future,” adding that two separate incidents of attack on fishermen from Kodiyakkarai village in Nagapattinam by six unidentified Sri Lankan nationals took place on December 20.
He said, “In this outrageous incident, three out of six fishermen who sailed in two country crafts were injured and their belongings such as GPS equipment, VHF equipment, fishing net, mobile phone, and their fish catch were robbed from their fishing boats by the attackers.”
Fishermen’s associations across Tamil Nadu are organising protests in coastal districts and have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to intervene and end the mid-sea arrests and seizures of mechanised boats, which form the backbone of their livelihood.
S. Jaishankar had recently discussed this issue with visiting Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, highlighting the frequent arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) President and former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss also called for strong intervention by the Indian government to prevent further arrests of Indian fishermen.
–IANS
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