RAMANATHAPURAM: Condemning the frequent arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, fishermen from Rameswaram continued their indefinite strike for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday. Refusing to stop the protest during the peace talk held on Thursday, fishermen associations announced that they would stage an indefinite hunger strike from Friday.
Fishermen associations in Rameswaram stated that over 100 fishermen from Ramanathapuram were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for alleged IMBL violation in the past two months. Over the years, hundreds of boats have been seized by the SL Navy and the Lankan government is set to auction the confiscated boats. Pressing the central government to take action towards addressing the prolonging issue, the fishermen went on indefinite strike from February 23. Over 700 boats remained anchored in the ports in Rameswaram for the fifth consecutive day.
On Thursday, Rameswaram tahsildar Abdul Jaffer, Rameswaram DSP Shanthamurthy and officials from the fisheries and revenue departments conducted peace talks with the fishermen urging them to halt the ongoing indefinite strike. However, the fishermen refused to do so and stated that they will continue the strike till the central government addresses their prolonging issues.