RAMANATHAPURAM: Condemning the recent arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy, the All India Fishermen’s Congress staged a protest in Rameswaram on Saturday. Heading the protests, the wing’s national president S Armstrong Fernando urged the union government to urge Lankan navy to release all confiscated boats.
Speaking to reporters, Fernando said from 2014 to February 2024, nearly 400 boats were captured and 3,179 fishermen detained by the Lankan navy. Over 150 boats were taken over by Lankan courts in the past five years.
The nationalised boats from Tamil Nadu are being broken and used for firewood, he said. Fernando also pointed out that the Sri Lankan navy arrested 23 fishermen who went out to sea from Rameswaram on February 3 and 19 fishers on February 7. Four boats were also seized near Neduntheevu. A total of 88 fishers were arrested last month, he stated.
“After the BJP came to power in 2014, the oppression of TN fishers by the Sri Lankan navy has increased. Though the BJP promised to address the issue during the previous election, it has taken a completely different stance now,” Fernando alleged.
Hundreds of Congress workers and fishers staged a protest near Pamban in this regard.