P.R. No. 713 Date:31.12.

2013

PRESS RELEASE

Text of the D.O. letter dated 30.12.2013 addressed by
Selvi J Jayalalithaa, Honble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to
Dr. Manmohan Singh, Honble Prime Minister of India is reproduced
below:-
I write this letter with a deep sense of anguish that close
on the heels of the unethical, illegal and inhuman arrest of
111 innocent Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu along with their
15 fishing boats on 12.12.2013, the Sri Lankan Navy has yet
again apprehended 22 fishermen from Pudukottai District along
with their 6 fishing boats on the night of 28.12.2013. On the
night of 29.12.2013, 18 fishermen of Pamban, Ramanathapuram
District, with their 3 motorised Vallams were apprehended.
With this, there have been six incidents of apprehension by the
Sri Lankan Navy during the month of December, 2013, and these
repeated abductions and detentions have sent shock waves
throughout the fishermen community in Tamil Nadu.
Six Mechanized Fishing Boats bearing Registration
Nos.IND-TN-08-MM-0172, IND-TN-08-MM-0206, IND-TN-08-MM-
0008, IND-TN-10-MM-0640, IND-TN-10-MM-0956, IND-PY-PK-
MM-0170 which went for fishing on 28.12.2013 from
Kottaipattinam and Jagadapattinam fishing bases of Pudukottai
District with 22 fishermen on board have been apprehended by
the Sri Lankan Navy on the night of 28.12.2013 and they have
been remanded up to 10.01.2014. In yet another incident
3 motorised Vallams bearing Registration Nos. IND-TN-10-
MO-1712, IND-TN-10-MO-1622 and IND-TN-10-MO-1659 with
18 fishermen who set out for fishing from Pamban fishing base in
Ramanathapuram District on 29.12.2013 morning have also been
apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy on the night of 29.12.2013.
The right of livelihood of our fishermen to fish in their
traditional waters of the Palk Bay to which they have a historic
claim is being infringed upon repeatedly and effectively
abrogated by Sri Lanka. This is caused in no small measure due
to the Government of India having entered into an ill-advised
agreement which ceded the islet of Katchatheevu, historically
part of Indias territory and undisputedly an integral part of
India.
2
Unabated, brutal, unprovoked attacks and instances of
opening of fire on our innocent fishermen have been carried out
by the marauding Sri Lankan Navy despite several joint
statements and declarations by both the Government of India
and the Government of Sri Lanka to desist from such activities.
The meek and weak response from the Government of India to
the repeated instances of abduction and attacks on our fishermen
in their traditional waters has emboldened the Sri Lankan Navy
to act brutally against our innocent fishermen.
In order to put an end to the systematic violence
unleashed by the Sri Lankan Navy and to decisively impress upon
the Government of Sri Lanka that the Government of India would
not tolerate such acts of brutality by the Sri Lankan Navy on our
innocent fishermen, I had exhorted you in my previous letters
to summon the Sri Lankan High Commissioner at New Delhi
through the Ministry of External affairs and register the strongest
disapproval of the belligerent actions of the Sri Lankan Navy and
also to take up this issue personally at the highest level to put
an end to the continued atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan
Navy by way of illegal arrest, detention of our innocent fishermen
and impounding of their fishing boats.
In my letter dated 20.9.2013 I had stated that while the
non-conducive atmosphere created by the actions of the Sri
Lankan Government continues, as witnessed by recurrent
instances of violent attacks on and abductions of our fishermen
on the high seas in the Palk Bay, seizure and destruction of boats
and fishing equipment by the Sri Lankan Navy and prolonged
detention of scores of poor fishermen from Tamil Nadu in Sri
Lankan jails, our fishermen, in an accommodative frame of
mind, are eager to sort out the day to day issues faced by them
by engaging in talks with the fishermen from
Sri Lanka. Even though the situation is tense in the coastal
districts of the Tamil Nadu because of the continued
imprisonment of our fishermen, the Fishermen Associations have
represented to the State Government to facilitate the bilateral
fishermen level talks and they have requested me to fix the
venue and time for such a meeting.
In view of the sentiments and desire of the Fishermen
Associations of Tamil Nadu to have such talks, and in the interest
of keeping a channel of communication open between the
fishermen communities of both countries, the Government
of Tamil Nadu vide its letter No.19309/FS6/2013, dated
3
23.12.2013 has already proposed that arrangements may
be made to have the next round of talks between the
fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu and their counterparts
in Sri Lanka at Chennai on 20.01.2014. The agenda and
the list of participants for the meeting have already been
sent to the Government of India. It has been reported in the
media that the Government of India is agreeable to the date
communicated by the Government of Tamil Nadu. However, we
are awaiting a formal confirmation from the Government of India.
It is unfortunate that in a situation where the Government
of Tamil Nadu is taking a conciliatory approach and helping to
facilitate fishermen level talks, the instances of attack on and
abduction of our fishermen continue unabated. The continuance
of such attacks and abductions will not make for a congenial
atmosphere for any meaningful talks even at the level of
fishermen associations of the two countries. Hence, I would like
to re-iterate that the Government of India must take a strong
line and prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government to end such
unprovoked attacks and arrests.
I wish to remind you that 216 fishermen who have been
incarcerated in Sri Lankan Jails for months together are yet to be
released by the Sri Lankan Government, while 72 fishing boats of
our fishermen are still under Sri Lankan custody and are in
danger of being reduced to unusable junk. May I once again
urge your personal intervention and exhort you to use the
diplomatic channels of the Government of India in a concrete and
decisive manner with the Sri Lankan authorities to secure the
immediate release of 256 Indian fishermen who are languishing
in Sri Lankan Jails for prolonged periods including the 40
fishermen apprehended on 28.12.2013 and 29.12.2013 and their
81 fishing boats from Sri Lankan custody at the earliest?
*******

Issued by: Director of Information and Public Relations, Chennai 9
Date: 31.12.2013