Chennai: Condemning the latest attack on Indian fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, CPI leader D Raja on Sunday said India should reopen the 1974 agreement ceding Katchatheevu to the island nation to find a lasting solution to the recurring mid-sea incidents.
The attack on more than 600 boats carrying fishermen from Rameswaram allegedly by Sri Lankan Navalmen `is completely in violation of all international conventions,` Raja said referring to the stoning of the boats in the Palk Strait off Tamil Nadu coast today.
Noting that Sri Lankan security personnel were attacking the fishermen regularly, he said the latest attack came close on the heels of the visit of External Affairs Minister SM Krishna to the island nation. "It is an irony that the attack has taken place immediately in the aftermath of Krishna`s visit to Sri Lanka," Raja said. Krishna, who was on a four-day visit to Sri lanka last week, had raised the fishermen attack issue while the Joint Working Group of India and Sri Lanka, which met ahead of his trip, too discussed it.
Referring to the Katchatheevu agreement, the CPI leader said it should not be treated as a closed chapter and reopened in order to find a lasting solution to the problem of attacks faced by the fishermen and safeguard their traditional fishing rights in the region.
Slamming the Central Government, Raja said its response to the attacks continued to be `callous`. "The Centre is not taking the issue seriously and is only paying lip-service," he charged.
Fisheries officials in Rameswaram said nine fishermen were missing and more than 200 boats damaged in the alleged attack by Sri Lankan Naval personnel at International Maritime Boundary Line in Palk Straits. PTI