Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin urged the Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government and secure the release of 37 arrested fishermen of Tamil Nadu, who were arrested by the Lankan Navy on June 22.
Also demanding the expeditious release of the seized boats, Stalin in a letter to Jaishankar said: ‘As I had pointed out in my previous letter, the incidents of arrests and intimidation have been continuing unabated resulting in loss of livelihoods.’
Yet again, 22 fishermen from Rameswaram fishing harbour were apprehended along with their three mechanised fishing boats bearing registration numbers IND-TN-10-MM-84, IND-TN-10-MM-88 and IND-TN-10-MM-340 on June 22, he said.
‘I request you to ensure the immediate release of the apprehended fishermen and their boats. I would also like to inform that permission is yet to be granted for the salvage boats and crew for bringing back the released boats from Sri Lanka,; he said.
Similarly, the requests of various Fishermen Associations in Tamil Nadu to visit the fishermen jailed in Sri Lanka, to provide them with some consolation and certain basic needs, might be proactively considered, Stalin told Jaishankar.
‘It is imperative that urgent diplomatic initiatives are taken to resolve this festering issue. I have been reiterating the need to revitalise the Joint Working Group that was set up to address this. I therefore request you to take this up with the Sri Lankan authorities and also to work towards a lasting solution to this issue,’ he said.
