Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to intervene following a spate of arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka and the punishment, including hefty fines, subsequently meted out.
In a letter written last week to Mr Jaishankar, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said “Sri Lankan courts are imposing penalties that are beyond the means of these fishermen. Strong measures must be taken to prevent the Sri Lankan authorities from detaining fishermen and seizing their boats.”
Thirty seven Indian fishermen and their boats were apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy two weeks ago. They were released after fines of up to Rs 50,000 each.
This follows a similar event on 26th of August when eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were detained and their boats seized for allegedly crossing the maritime boundary. Two weeks later five were released by a court in Mannar after paying fines of 50,000 rupees each. Their heads were also forcibly shaved.
This drew sharp criticism from M. Appavu, a ruling party lawmaker in Tamil Nadu, who likened this to shaving the heads of the leaders and the people of Tamil Nadu. The other three were sentenced to six months in prison. "We were taken by force, and our heads were shaved. They told us we had been sentenced to four months in jail and made us clean the jail area", according to one of the fishermen, Ainnasi Raja.
The Chief Minister also called for swift action to secure the release of all detained fishermen and their boats. This is his second recent intervention, having also written to Indian Central government last month over the 'alarming' arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka.
