Chennai, Dec 07: Claiming that 32 fishermen from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu were illegally ''captured'' by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and not by the Sri Lankan Navy, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today urged Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to send a clear signal to the militant organisation not to provoke India by such ''renegade acts.'' In a letter to Vajpayee, a copy of which was released to the press here, she said the incident had given a totally different perspective involving not only the fragile security of the east coast of Tamil Nadu, but also the security of the nation itself, considering the overtly terrorist stance of the LTTE that had such an explosive impact on the internal security of India in the recent past.
''Such an outrageous incident of capture of Indian fishermen by a terrorist organisation like the LTTE should not be met with only a lukewarm and meek response by the Indian government, treating it as yet another routine incident of Indian fishermen allegedly crossing the international boundary line during fishing,'' she said.
''This is an affront to India's sovereignty itself,'' she added.
Jayalalithaa said given the serious national security concerns involved in the incident, the Centre should take immediate and effective steps by making a clear statement to the LTTE that they should not provoke India by such renegade acts of illegal capture of innocent Indian fishermen.
Bureau Report