The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is determined to retrieve Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, K. Annamalai, State president of the party, said near Palladam in Tiruppur district on Sunday.
Mr. Annamalai, who is campaigning for the Lok Sabha election, told journalists that the only way to have a permanent solution for the problems faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen was to retrieve Katchatheevu.
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The Tamil Nadu BJP had submitted this demand to External Affairs Affairs S. Jaishankar about an year ago. It has now brought out in public forum classified documents relating to how India ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka.
The boundary of India shrunk because of Congress, he alleged. There was no problem related to Katchatheevu till 1948 as the King of Ramanathapuram had the rights to Katchatheevu. After Sri Lanka became independent it started slowly claiming that Katchatheevu was its territory.
The then Congress government in India failed to take a firm decision soon and the issue prolonged and it finally ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, he said.
Further, before Emergency, Article 6 that gave permission for Indian fishermen to use Katchatheevu was removed stealthily, claimed Mr. Annamalai.
Retrieving Katchatheevu was not just a demand or request of the Tamil Nadu BJP. It was determined to do this to resolve the issues faced by the fishermen of Tamil Nadu, he said.
