MANGALURU: The fishing hubs of coastal Karnataka — Mangaluru, Malpe and Karwar — are typically a multi-lingual set up as the mechanised fishing here heavily depends on workforce hailing from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and also from north India. There are around 50,000 migrant fish workers here who usually visit their native places mainly during the fishing ban season between June and July or during major occasions like festivals.
This time, however, they are likely to take a break in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha election and go back to their hometowns to vote. “A majority of fishermen here are from Odisha and Jharkhand. A good number of them have already left to their native states as we have moored the boats as there is not much fishing”, says Mohan Bolashettykar, a fishermen leader at Karwar. “It is up to them. If the boats are docked back after fishing expeditions, they are free to go to their native and vote,” says Vinish, a boat owner from Malpe.
Fishermen Bernard Shaw and Anthony from Thangachimadam in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, have decided to take a couple of days break and go and vote on April 18. With the prevailing political situation in Tamil Nadu, we feel that it is important that we vote there, the duo said. Prakash from Ramatheertham in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh is also planning to vote. “Most of us will go and vote,” the fisherman says.
“I am not sure how many will go and vote because of the cost incurred in travelling,” says Shereef, a boat owner from Mangaluru. But boat owner Keshav Moger (from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada, and based in Malpe fishing harbour) is willing to halt his fishing and take his entire crew, mostly hailing from Uttara Kannada, back to their native to exercise their franchise.
Apart from fishermen, there are migrant workers at fishing harbours like women cleaning the fish for a fee. For instance, a good number of them at Mangaluru fishing harbour are from Tamil Nadu. “Nothing much is going to change if we vote or not ... but we feel it is our duty to vote. So I will go back to my native and vote”, says Chinnathayi from Salem district in Tamil Nadu.