Fishers from Thangachimadam and Rameswaram, along with their families, commenced a relay hunger fast in protest against the arrests of fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, on Saturday, February 24, 2024.
Speaking to media persons, association members said the Sri Lankan government had jailed five of their fishermen, in two separate instances this month, sentencing them to prison terms extending between six months and two years.
This has come as a big blow to the fisherfolk, said P. Jesu Raja, a fishermen leader, adding that fishers had not ventured into the sea for the past eight days. “This will continue until the fishermen are released without conditions, and we are given an assurance that the Sri Lankan government will not sentence them to jail terms again, and release their boats as well,” he said. Even if it amounted to death due to starvation, the fishermen and their families were prepared to face that end, he said and appealed to the Centre to immediately intervene in this issue.
When the fishermen from coastal districts of Tamil Nadu continued to earn huge foreign exchange revenues through exports by their hard work, the government should not let them down, Mr. Jesu Raja said. “From time immemorial, the fishermen here have been fishing in the Palk Bay. This sudden and forceful action by the Sri Lankan Navy is unacceptable,” he said.
At a time when Sri Lanka had been describing India as a friendly nation and seeking assistance, it was baffling to see them “throttling” the livelihoods of Tamil Nadu fishermen, he said, adding that the fishermen were eager to get back to work and were hoping for speedy action from the government.
A woman, Narmada, said her husband had been jailed by the Sri Lankan court for six months. “I have two children and they have been waiting to see their father for the past eight days. All the five arrested fishermen should be released forthwith. We don’t know or have any other means of earning for our survival. Fishing is the only activity through which we can survive, and we appeal to the Union and Tamil Nadu governments to help us,” she said.
Cancellation of Katchatheevu festival
To further the protest and express their disappointment over the jail terms awarded to Tamil Nadu fishermen, fisher families from Rameswaram, Thangachimadam, Mandapam and Dhanushkodi decided not to participate in the two-day annual St. Antony’s Church festival at Katchatheevu islet.
A fishermen leader, R. Sagayam, said: “As the five fisher families were upset over the jail terms awarded, it wouldn’t be fair for others in the same hamlet to go to the festival. To express our solidarity, we have decided not to participate. We wish to go to Katchatheevu next year,” he added.
The fishermen had also announced that they would hand over their identity cards to the Collector in Ramanathapuram. When they took out a march for this, however, Collector B. Vishnu Chandran intercepted them and told them that their issues would be taken up with the Tamil Nadu government, following which the march was cancelled.
Woman faints
On Saturday, a 35-year-old woman, Mercy, wife of Robert of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Thangachimadam, who was participating in the relay hunger fast, fainted at around 3.15 p.m. Immediately, she was rushed to hospital. The fishermen said the woman had been in a state of shock since her husband was jailed by the Sri Lankan court for six months. “From the time she got the information, she had not taken food properly,” the fishermen added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jesu Raja said they would continue the hunger fast, and would end it only when Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Chief Minister M.K. Stalin gave them an assurance that the governments would intervene immediately with the Sri Lankan government.
