Over 3,000 fishermen gathered in Ramneswaram, shouting slogans condemning Swamy and burning an effigy of the senior BJP leader. Effigies were also burnt in Salem, Nagapattinam, and Panruti as activists from parties such as the Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi and Mukkulathu Pulikal held protests.
Swamy, who recently attended a defence seminar in Sri Lanka, said the Sri Lankan government should not release the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen that they were holding in their custody.
The BJP’s State Chief distanced the party from Swamy’s remarks and noted the matter had been reported to the “party high command”.
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, Tamil Nadu based activist Saravana Kumar from the Ilanthamizhagam Movement said,
“Swamy has been intervening on the Sri Lankan issue since the 1980’s, saying there is no support for the Eelam Tamils in Tamil Nadu. But the current situation clearly shows that if he tries to play any role against the Tamils and Tamil sentiments, the people will never let him.”
"Whoever supports Sri Lanka, whether it’s Congress or BJP, Tamil Nadu will never support them,” continued Saravana Kumar, warning that protests will also start in Chennai if Swamy was to attempt to visit the city.
The protests come as Swamy wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi explaining his comments.
"The reason I did not press for the release of these mechanized fishing boats is that it is mostly owned by DMK's T R Baalu and Jayalalithaa's resident friend Sasikala," said Swamy.
However, P. Sesu Raja, a fishermen leader, disputed Swamy’s latest statement, saying,
“Most of the fishermen are in debt as they bought the boats, borrowing from moneylenders or pawning their jewels.”
Swamy also hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in his letter saying she had "made a business of the plight of fishermen by doing nothing about it except writing letters to you.”
Earlier he had said the Chief Minister, who heads the third biggest political party in India “is being a cinema star,” adding “she basically speaks according to a script.”
See more in our earlier post:
BJP distances itself from Swamy's comments on Sri Lanka (04 September 2014)
