Rameswaram fishermen to boycott Katchatheevu island festival

Rameswaram: Hundreds of fishermen and families continued their sit-in protest against the slaying of their 20-year-old kin Britjo by the Sri Lanka Navy, hardening their stance on day three of the agitation by announcing they would not give up unless the Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar personally guarantees their demands would be met forthwith. There were demands earlier in the large protest pandal that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj should come herself to pledge India’s commitment to deliver the fishermen a permanent solution from the Lankan threat.

The protesters prevailed upon Britjo’s family not to accept his body, still lying in the morgue of the government hospital here, until the Union government concedes their demands — unhindered fishing in traditional areas in Palk Strait and Palk Bay (which in effect could mean right up to the north Lankan shores), retrieval of Katchatheevu island and the arrest of the Lankan naval personnel involved in Britjo’s death.

As a fallout of the tragedy, the Rameswaram fishermen have decided to boycott the annual St Antony’s Church festival in Katchatheevu island scheduled for March 11-12. The Verkodu Parish priest, Rev. Fr. L. Sagayaraj, told DC though all preparations have been made for the visit to the festival, “we cannot go this time since this horrible shooting of our fisherman has pushed us all into deep sorrow”.

Ramanathapuram district collector Nadarajan, superintendent of police Manivannan, RDO Rama Pradeepan and Tahsildar Ramesh, who have all been camping at a school close to the protest pandal at Thangachimadam from Tuesday - they go home at night and return in the morning for talks with the fishermen - appeared to have now given up hope of an early resolution of the agitation. There are visible signs of worry among the official circles over the infiltration of 'outsiders' whose agenda appears to be “disturbingly different from the innocent craving of the fishermen here to carry on their vocation peacefully”. Some attempts by these elements to rudely block political leaders from addressing the congregation were thwarted by the fishermen leaders who insisted that those coming with words of sympathy and solidarity should not be turned back. Nevertheless, the shadow of alien influences on the fishermen's campaign “is worrisome”, said an official requesting anonymity.

Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan was quite forthright when he told reporters at Chennai that “extremist elements” have infiltrated into the fishermen agitation and recalled that he had cautioned about the presence of the same elements at the jallikattu protest at the Marina. The presence of these 'extremist elements' did not augur well for Tamil Nadu, he warned on Thursday.

More political leaders visited the protest pandal on Thursday. Among them, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan consoled Britjo’s family said it “is regrettable that no one from the Centre has come to console the grieving”. Demanding that the involved Lankan naval personnel be punished as per international laws, he told reporters that nearly 900 Indian fishermen were killed by the Lankan Navy during the last 25 years.

Meanwhile, an official source explained that the foreign ministries of both the countries decided something fast and effective should be done before the Rameswaram temperature escalates and the protesters, taking inspiration from jallikattu and hydrocarbon demos, press impossible demands such as retrieval of Katchateevu and the arrest of the Lankan navy personnel responsible for Brijo's death. They appear “very much worried” that the jallikattu effect might spill on the Sterling Road where the Sri Lankan deputy high commission in Chennai is situated.