The fishermen were the residents of Nambuthalai in Ramanathapuram district and the boat was owned by a person from Nagapattinam….reports Asian Lite News
The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested six Indian fishermen and seized their boat allegedly for poaching in country’s territorial waters.
The arrest was made on Saturday night near the Kovilan lighthouse, Jaffna.
According to information from the Sri Lankan Army website, the fishermen and the boat were captured for crossing the IMBL.
The fishermen were the residents of Nambuthalai in Ramanathapuram district and the boat was owned by a person from Nagapattinam.
The fishermen leaders said that they have set sail from Nambuthalai on February 18.
With this incident, 29 fishermen and six fishing boats are under the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities in the month of February alone.
PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss called upon the Indian government to hold talks with the Sri Lankan government and to work for the release of fishermen and the boats under the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities.
Katchatheevu festival issue
AIADMK Coordinator and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to intervene in the issue of the participation of Indian devotees at St. Anthony’s church in Sri Lanka’s Katchatheevu.
Panneerselvam on Saturday said that according to reports, the festival is to be held on March 11 and 12, and the Sri Lankan Government has decided to conduct the festival without the participation of the devotees, which includes fishermen from both India (Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lanka.
He said that the Sri Lankan government had cited several reasons, including security and the Covid pandemic to conduct the festival without the participation of devotees from Tamil Nadu.
In the letter, the former Chief Minister mentioned that fishermen from the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu have traditionally undertaken a pilgrimage to St. Anthony’s Church, Katchatheevu in the past and requested Jaishankar to immediately sort out the matter.
Paneerselvam said that this has caused great frustration among the devotees of the coastal areas of the state.
Katchatheevu has been a contentious issue with the Sri Lankan Navy arresting fishermen from Tamil Nadu for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near the Katchatheevu island. Several Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and many were lodged in jails with their vessels compounded by the Sri Lankan authorities.