Chennai: “The central government should immediately contact the Sri Lankan authorities to prevent the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen from being broken and smashed, and take steps to recover those boats and hand them back to the Tamil Nadu fishermen,” PMK leader Anbumani has urged.
In the statement he released regarding this, “The Sinhala government has made it a routine to arrest Tamil Nadu fishermen who go fishing in the Bay of Bengal on charges of crossing the border and fishing, and to seize the boats of the fishermen so arrested. Even if the fishermen who are arrested are released by the courts there and sent back to Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan government does not return their boats.
Over the past 6 years, starting from 2021 until now, more than 200 boats belonging to Tamil Nadu fishermen have been kept anchored in ports in Sri Lanka, including Kankesanthurai, Mayilatti, Mannar, and Vavuniya. Reports have now emerged that the Sri Lankan government is engaged in dismantling and destroying those boats.
Based on reports received from there, Rameswaram fishermen have said that a significant number of boats were broken over just the past two days, and that boats continue to be broken. However, the exact number of boats destroyed is not known.
It is unacceptable for the Sri Lankan government to destroy the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen. When fishermen arrested for crossing the border and fishing in the Bay of Bengal are released, it is only fair that their boats be released as well. Instead, confiscating the fishermen’s boats and keeping them, and destroying them once in a while, is an act of deliberately destroying the livelihood of Tamil Nadu fishermen.
Seizing fishermen’s boats brings no economic benefit to Sri Lanka. They will only end up occupying space in Sri Lankan ports uselessly. At one time, the Sri Lankan government destroyed Tamil Nadu fishermen’s boats, saying there was no space to park Sri Lankan fishermen’s boats. Even then, Sri Lanka will not benefit.
However, the purpose of the Sri Lankan government seizing and destroying the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen is to completely destroy their livelihood. This is not the first time the Sri Lankan government has destroyed the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen. From 2021 until May of last year, the Sri Lankan Navy had seized 174 boats. In May of last year, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources had recommended to the Sri Lankan government that by breaking them up and sinking them in the sea, artificial coral reefs could be developed at the places where they sink, and that this would increase fish resources. Even then, the Pattali Makkal Katchi urged the central and state governments to point out this conspiracy and stop the destruction of Tamil Nadu fishermen’s boats.
However, because the central and state governments took no action, more than 30 fishing motorboats were destroyed using bulldozer machines in August last year. Even now, if the central and state governments do not intervene immediately and take action, no one will be able to prevent the remaining fishing boats from being demolished and sunk in the sea.
At least 10 fishermen go out to sea on every fishing trawler. Based on that, each fishing boat directly supports 10 fishing families, and another 25 families benefit indirectly through unloading the fish caught by the boats, selling it locally, exporting it abroad, carrying out maintenance work for the boats, making the ice blocks needed for the boats, and refueling them.
Sri Lanka’s plan is to destroy such livelihoods and drive Tamil fishermen out of the Bay of Bengal. The central and state governments must never allow this.
Therefore, the Central Government should immediately contact the Sri Lankan authorities and take action to prevent the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen from being smashed and destroyed, and to ensure that those boats are handed back to the Tamil Nadu fishermen.
Moreover, the Central Government must strive to find a permanent solution to the fishermen’s issue so that fishermen are not affected in the future. I also urge Chief Minister Vijay to exert pressure on the Central Government in this regard,” he said.
