Chennai, Sept 07: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today sought Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's intervention in securing the release of 34 fishermen of the state languishing in Sri Lankan jails. "I strongly urge you to take up the matter with government of Sri Lanka at the appropriate diplomatic level and to secure the immediate release of 34 fishermen from Tamil Nadu now under detention in Sri Lanka," she said in a letter to the Prime Minister, which was released to the press here.
Also requesting Vajpayee to initiate concrete steps through the external affairs ministry to bring about a long term and permanent solution to the problem, Jayalalithaa said despite protests by the state government and her strong letters to the Centre the attacks and abductions of fishermen were on the increase. She said that the prolonged detention of the fishermen by the island nation, with no prospect or word of their return, was causing anguish and unrest among the fishermen community of the state's coastal districts.
The 34 fishermen, in jail for periods ranging between 17 to 177 days, hailed from Nagapattinam, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram districts, she said. Their detention violated all international norms, she said.
Jayalalithaa charged the Sri Lankan fishermen with taking the law into their own hands, with the help of the island's navy, and preventing Tamil Nadu fishermen, dependant on the waters surrounding Kacha Theevu for their livelihood, from fishing there.
There have been repeated instances of attacks and capture of Indian fishermen by the island's Navy and fishermen, the Chief Minister said.
The July 18 last meeting of the Indo-Sri Lankan joint commission in the capital had decided that suitable working arrangements would be devised to enable Indian fishermen to carry on their day-to-day occupation without constant fear of attacks and abduction, she said. Bureau Report