Members of Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu on Monday berated the government for its affidavit in Supreme Court that said Katchatheevu island was never part of India. Members from AIADMK, DMK, CPI and BJP demanded that India retrieve the island from Sri Lanka, which routinely harasses fishermen from Tamil Nadu for allegedly fishing in its waters.
The Centre had made the claim before the apex court in response to a case filed by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa demanding that the government retrieve Katchatheevu, as it was handed over to Sri Lanka in the 1970s without Parliamentary approval.
“Katchatheevu is part of India. Entire Tamil Nadu is shocked that UPA government in an affidavit in Supreme Court ceded it to Sri Lanka. This is the greatest betrayal to Tamil Nadu,” said AIADMK’s V Maitreyan. He told the government it “should understand that when persuasive diplomacy did not work, coercive diplomacy will have to be adopted”.
He also charged the Congress with considering “the country a zamindari of government”. “Congress is anti-Tamil Nadu. People of Tamil Nadu will teach a lesson to Congress,” he said demanding that the government retrieve Katchatheevu.
DMK’s Kanimozhi said the government was wrong in saying that Katchatheevu was not part of India. She claimed it was, at the time of Independence, listed as property of the King of Ramanathapuram.
Joining in, CPI’s D Raja said his party “strongly deplored” the government’s affidavit. “Government of India should demand the reopening of the Katchatheevu agreement and renegotiate it,” he suggested.
BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu called for an all-party meeting on the issue of reviewing the agreement, describing Katchatheevu as a “flash point”.
Kanimozhi also raised the issue of Indian fishermen languishing in Sri Lankan jails. While the fishermen deny transgressing into Lankan waters, they remain in judicial custody, although Lanka earlier used to follow a catch-and-release policy, she noted.