RAMANATHAPURAM: Condemning the spate of arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen and impoundment of their boats by the Sri Lankan Navy, the DMK along with fishermen’s association in Ramanathapuram district staged a protest in Rameswaram on Sunday.
Heading the protest, RS Bharathi said that the chief minister wrote several times to the union government regarding the issue, but to no avail.
The protest that witnessed participation of over 500 fishermen and DMK cadres comes a day after the fishermen’s wing of the Congress staged a protest decrying the recent arrests of fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.
On Sunday, DMK functionaries, including senior leader RS Bharathi, MLAs Kadhar Basha Muthuramalingam and Murugesan, and several others led the protest in Rameswaram. Earlier in the day, the DMK leaders distributed financial aid to 64 families of the fishermen, who remain in Lankan custody.
The protesters alleged that over the past 10 years, 3,076 Indian Tamil fishermen have been arrested, and more than 500 boats have been confiscated by Lankan authorities.
Series of protest and petitions failed to put an end to the atrocities by the SL navy. The BJP-led union government has also failed to address the issue brewing between the two countries.
While addressing the media, DMK leader Bharathi said, over the years, CM MK Stalin has written nearly 35 official letters to the departments concerned and the prime minister on issues pertaining to the Indian fishermen, but the matter remains unaddressed.
A team led by T R Balu also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and brought it up multiple times. “In the upcoming elections, the BJP will be defeated, and the new government will surely address the issue,” added Bharathi.
DMK plans public meetings from Feb 16
Chennai: IN the run-up to the general election, the DMK leadership has scheduled public meetings in all parliamentary constituencies of the state between February 16 and 18.
Ministers Duraimurugan, I Periyasamy, SS Sivasankar, Ma Subramanian, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, KN Nehru, Udhayanidhi Stalin, EV Velu, former union ministers and senior leaders are expected to speak on the ‘failure’ of the BJP-led union government.
According to a release, these meetings will shed light on “injustices” meted out to Tamil Nadu over the past decade by the union government, as well as the alleged betrayal by the former AIADMK government.
