Attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan navy

[amitkriit]

Morally speaking we must stop our fishermen from stealing natural resource which rightfully belongs to our neighbor. They have the right to arrest anyone who intrudes into their territory. At least they have not shot our people. I wonder what other option does Sri Lankan navy have.

 

[Pintu]

Morally speaking we must stop our fishermen from stealing natural resource which rightfully belongs to our neighbor. They have the right to arrest anyone who intrudes into their territory. At least they have not shot our people. I wonder what other option does Sri Lankan navy have.

Two fishermen already shot dead by SL Navy.

Regards

 

[Tshering22]

Sri Lankan Navy has become more aggressive and is posing a serious threat to the life and property of Indian fishermen venturing into the sea. Citing the death of several hundreds of Indian fishermen, the PIL said hundreds of others had been maimed for life and had lost fishing properties worth several crores of rupees.

How come we are sitting and taking this nonsense tiny speck doing dirt against our people eh? They keep shooting our Tamil brothers daily or now arresting them and we are sitting with a spineless wretch for a PM and his vile foreign Lady owner who doesn't give a damn to these innocent lives. We will need a freaking Egypt at this rate in India. NE is neglected, Kashmir is basket case and now even Tamil Nadu is being forgotten. WTF is this government for? Bloody losers.

Lankan action against Indian fishermen not acceptable: PM

Manmohan, you are the most disgusting joke ever played on our country since our modern incarnation. Even Nehru had some spine to drive away Portuguese invaders. You are worse than him. You cannot even drive away a tiny island who threatens you daily by killing your own people and then threatening of aligning with your enemy. Because of you, our country is being bullied by a bunch of effing dirt spec sized wannabe countries. A failed terrorist state, an expansionist dictatorship, an overcrowded hellhole, a dirt-spec island..now what are you waiting for? Mauritius to threaten you?

 

[maomao]

Nothins gonna happen, our Lion PM-Singh will come on TV and plead he is too old to do anything, so people should sympathize with him, rather than the families of the fishermen, and let Gandhis/Mainos/Vadaras and their Coterie loot the nation.....sad but a shameless man we have as our PM !!

 

[S.A.T.A]

Cant blame manmohanji,he was a interim PM to begin with anyway,he's just keeping the kursi warm until the waris is ready.The real power behind the curtain is Sonia Gandhi,is there any reason to suspect Sonia Gandhi might be upset with Tamils,upset enough to give two hoots whether Tamils lived or died....did i hear somebody say Rajiv Gandhi assassination?

 

[Param]

Morally speaking we must stop our fishermen from stealing natural resource which rightfully belongs to our neighbor. They have the right to arrest anyone who intrudes into their territory. At least they have not shot our people. I wonder what other option does Sri Lankan navy have.

Dude what planet are you from? Hundreds of INDIAN fisherman have been shot and killed by the Lankans.Even Pakistan does not kill our fisherman who stray into their waters.
Sri lanka is no friend.
In the 80s it was lanka's ties with the US that threatened India.
Sri Lanka's former president J R Jayewardene, had flirted with the idea of inviting Washington to establish a presence in Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, at the time Indira Gandhi's government was training LTTE guerrillas in India. Colombo then signed an agreement with the US Navy to provide ``rest and recreation'' facilities at Trincomalee, a move that sent alarm bells ringing all over New Delhi.

I read some where that in 1971 Srilanka also offered refuelling facilities to Pak.
And every body knows the bonhomie between China and lanka.

 

[S.A.T.A]

This govt first sold the Srilankan Tamils,whom most Tamils consider their own own kinsmen, down the palk strait,now the govt twiddles its thumb while Tamils are being shot and humiliated in the waters of their ancestors.if this situation continues the govt will soon have to contend with a situation entirely of its own making,an atmosphere of helplessness has come to be in Tamil Nadu and this holds dangerous portends for the country.

 

[Flint]

I hope there are no more shootings.

 

[Rage]

Somebody tell these Sri Lankans, that they can't go around shooting our fishermen. Because otherwise, their Navy, their Coast Guard and their Island itself, will be one huge, sinking heap.

There is one thing the Sri Lankan navy should be made clear on: if our fishermen stray into your waters, escort them over to the International Maritime Boundary Line and repatriate them over to the Indian authorities. Anything else would be considered a charge and a serious violation of the peace between our two countries.

I'd like to see a crack team of Indian commandoes, actually go there and liberate our fishermen from the jails they're being held in. Let's see, what Sri Lanka does, then.

 

[Tshering22]

Somebody tell these Sri Lankans, that they can't go around shooting our fishermen. Because otherwise, their Navy, their Coast Guard and their Island itself, will be one huge, sinking heap.

HAHAHAH! You're joking right? Who is going to give the orders to do this? Maino Mafia from Sicily or her 2 mongrels? Or the rest of the "elites". Let's see:

- Manmohan Not so Singh
- Dadima Patil
- Pacifist Chidambaram
- Directionless Anthony

What do they have in common. Come on take a guess. Its not so tough.

The whole goddamn reason why these wastrels were chosen for their respective fields was because they lack any self-esteem, lack any national respect, lack any self-image and are just losers. They can be controlled by Maino madam, her pups and their extended family of cahoots. That's why.

I'd like to see a crack team of Indian commandoes, actually go there and liberate our fishermen from the jails they're being held in. Let's see, what Sri Lanka does, then.

Sonia Gandhi and not-so-Singh would we their garments before that happens. They would prefer handing Tamil Nadu to the SL Army rather than stand their ground. Seriously, you are confusing Congress with Israeli Likud.

 

[Sridhar]

I don't know why these poor folks Arrest not giving sleepless night to our PM or is he Sleeping ? Some body wake him up . There is not even Coalition compromises to blame . The Tamils should not be goats of sacrifice for better relations with Sl to Avoid falling in China camp.

Call up Rajapaksa, warn him: Jayalalithaa to PM

Express News Service First Published : 18 Feb 2011 03:56:15 AM ISTLast Updated : 18 Feb 2011 10:14:03 AM IST
CHENNAI: Charging that DMK president M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi courting arrest on February 16 has trivialised the grave problem being faced everyday by Tamil Nadu fishermen, AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Thursday demanded stronger steps by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to end the miseries of fishermen.
"The PM should himself pick up the phone and speak to Mahinda Rajapaksa and tell him if the atrocities against Indian fishermen are not stopped forthwith, Lanka will have to face the consequences," Jayalalithaa said in a statement here.
"Mere despatching of letters from Chennai to Delhi or sending messengers from Delhi to Colombo will not be of any use. The sequence of events clearly shows that the UPA government does not care about the letters Karunanidhi keeps despatching. And the Sri Lankan government does not care about India's warning. Stronger steps are required to put an end to the fishermen's problems," Jayalalithaa said.
On the other steps to make Sri Lanka mend its ways, Jayalalithaa said: "India should stop sending its Sukhoi aircraft for display at the 16th anniversary of the Sri Lankan Air Fair.
The Kachatheevu agreement has to be abrogated and the island should be brought back into the Indian map to India's territorial waters to its original distance.
India's Naval presence off the TN coast has to be stepped up."
She dismissed the DMK's protest over the arrest of fishermen on Wednesday, and the 'arrest' of Kanimozhi as diabolical.
The people of TN can see through the DMK's charades on this issue, she said and observed that around 540 fishermen had lost their lives in attacks by Lankan Navy.

http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/call-up-rajapaksa-warn-him-jayalalithaa-to-pm/249127.html

 

[Oracle]

'Sri Lankan fishermen planned the attack'

After three days of intense diplomatic tussle between India and Sri Lanka, 136 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were apprehended by their counterparts from across the waters and handed over to the local police, have finally returned home.

Though many Indian fishermen have been apprehended in the past while fishing in foreign waters, what really took them by surprise this time was that it was not the Sri Lankan navy, but the neighbouring country's fishermen who had turned them in.

Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spoke to some of the fishermen.

Karnan, 30, has two small children, both studying in kindergarten. He narrates his encounter with the Sri Lankan authorities:

"In the 15 years that I have been going to sea, I have never been apprehended. I have seen the Sri Lankan navy many times. Other fishermen have told me that sometimes they take your fish and let you go.

On the morning of February 15 we went adrift with the current and crossed over unknowingly. Some 50, 60 small Lankan fishing boats surrounded us. They threw stones at us and then boarded our boats.

They then took over the boats and took us ashore. Our boat was anchored there. Their fishermen's association leader, the local media, government officials were there. Lankan naval personnel were also present.

The media photographed us while we were being arrested. By 6 pm, a complaint had been registered against us. We spent the night at the police station. The next day they took us to the hospital for a check-up after which we were taken to court.

The court had a holiday, so they took us to the residence of the judge, who remanded us for 14 days in custody. After two days, they took us to court again on February 18. We were released and taken to our boat.

Most of the things in our boat were missing; we could not do anything. The Sri Lankan navy escorted us to the International Maritime Boundary Line where we were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard.

Ponnukutty, 37, a father of three, on his experience:

"I have been going out to sea for 25 years. I have seen the Sri Lankan navy regularly. Two months back they caught us, beat us up and took away our fish.

This time, we must have crossed their border mistakenly when their fishermen surrounded us. They were from Parathurai village in Sri Lanka.
Around 50 small speedboats surrounded us and started pelting stones and petrol bombs. They then boarded our boat and dragged it ashore.

The local fishermen's association leader told us, 'I am responsible for everything in your boat. Don't worry.'

The fishermen handed us over to the police who lodged us at Yalapanam jail. We were there for three days. On the fourth day, the court released us. They gave us a lungi, a shirt, packets of food and water.

In our boat, we found the fish and nets missing. The fishermen's association leader said he didn't know what had happened to it.

We returned with our own diesel. Two boats had no diesel. We towed them back. We left at 5 pm on February 18 and met the Coast Guard at 9 pm. I will go back to sea, but will not go that side."

Vijayendran, 34, has been venturing out to sea for over 20 years.

"One trip to sea is three days and three nights. I get a minimum of Rs 2,000 per trip and sometimes more. We make 4 or 5 trips a month.

Everything was fine till February 15. At around 2.30 pm, Sri Lankan fishermen surrounded our boats, pelted stones and dragged us ashore.

We were handed over to the police who gave us dinner. We were told that we would be in jail till February 28, but they released us in two days.
The jail food was not good, but at least we were not harmed.

When we got back our boats, we realised that our fish, GPS tracker and diesel had been taken away. Only our nets were there.

We managed to return home on diesel borrowed from our other boats.

I will go back to sea, but will not go to the other side. I cannot do any other work because I don't know any other work."

Sivaperumal, 45, is a veteran of the high seas.

"I have been going out to sea for 26 years. We normally go up to the place where they are dredging for the Sethusamudram project.
Sometimes we stray to the other side, but that only because the current takes us there.

Normally, we never cross the Sethusamudram project line. Earlier, the Sri Lankan navy used to attack us. Now they chase us back.

The Sri Lankan fishermen planned the February 12 attack. They had brought stones and bottles to attack us.

Having dragged our boats ashore, they promised us that no one would touch our boats. But when we came back, our fish, our provisions were missing.

They had taken away our diesel too. Other boats gave us diesel.

The next time, they may kill us. A lot of our people were hurt in the stone throwing."

Source

 

[Oracle]

Fishermen don't listen to our warnings: Coast Guard

Despite the Coast Guard's best efforts to discourage Indian fishermen from crossing into Sri Lankan waters, they continue to do so in search of a better catch, discovers A Ganesh Nadar.
Indian fishermen do cross over into Sri Lankan waters, says Commandant D S Saini, who is posted at the Coast Guard station in Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu.

He was speaking on the ground realities in the coastal regions of the state, in the wake of two Indian fishermen being killed, allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy for crossing the international maritime border.

Saini says though the authorities can carry out search and rescue operations for Indian trawlers worldwide, the Coast Guard could safeguard fishermen only while they were still in Indian waters.

While the ethnic conflict was raging in Lanka, there was a latent sympathy for Tamil fishermen, says Commandant Saini. For over 20 years, Indian fishermen have been fishing in Lankan waters, he said, adding that the sympathy from the other side dried up after the Lankan government won the civil war. But Indian fishermen were not ready to accept the new reality, he said.

Saini, left, pointed out that Indian fishermen conducted bottom trawling, which led to a rapid depletion of fish in Indian waters. That, coupled with the relatively shallow water on the Indian side, left little choice for Tamil Nadu's fishermen.

Local fishermen admitted that fishing for ten hours in Indian waters is equivalent to fishing for three hours on the Lankan side, he said.

The Coast Guard had conducted many community sessions for the local fishermen, during which they were advised not to cross the international border.

In 1984, the Coast Guard detained a Sri Lankan naval ship for entering Indian waters; it was released after four days.

About reports that the Lankan navy had fired at Indian fishermen who crossed the maritime boundary, Saini said, "We have told them (Sri Lankan navy) to arrest our fishermen if they come there, but not harm them."

Local fishermen want the island of Katchatheivu which India [ Images ] had handed over to Sri Lanka [ Images ] returned, but only the two governments can take a final decision on that, he said.

The Indian Coast Guard can operate only up to the International Maritime Boundary Line; they cannot go beyond that.

On the nights Indian fishermen go looking for a catch -- on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday -- the Coast Guard has a tough time.

Saini says, "We cannot sleep. We get calls and faxes from the Lankan navy. They say Indian boats are fishing in our waters."

The faxes are sent by the Lankan navy to the Indian high commission in Colombo. The high commission then sends them to the defence ministry, which forwards the lot to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard sends these faxes to the Tamil Nadu government and to the directorate of fisheries. "In a month, we get at least 25 faxes," adds Saini.

In the day time, Coast Guard personnel man the waters till the IMBL and stop Indian boats from crossing over. To evade detection, local fishermen choose the cover of the dark to sail to Lankan waters.

The Coast Guard ship stationed on the IMBL 24/7 moves towards the north in the night, and local fishermen take this opportunity to cross over to the south.

The Coast Guard station in Mandapam has two hovercrafts, three interceptor boats and two boats for shallow water.

Air surveillance of coastal waters was earlier undertaken on alternate days from Chennai, but the authorities will now start these exercises daily from Tuticorin in southern Tamil Nadu.

Source

 

[Oracle]

Keeping nationalistic sentiments aside, we are not that holy now, ain't we? However, SL being a friendly country should not shoot at fishermen, and instead escort them away from SL waters OR arrest them and then release them through diplomatic channels.

 

[Phenom]

It is true that Indian fishermen cross the international boundary in search of better catch. So what the SL govt should do is to arrest them. What bothers me is the fact that the SL seems to be interested in killing them rather than arresting them.

Even after 26/11 Indian coast guard doesn't attack Pakistani fishing trawlers that enter into Indian water. Because its common sense not to shoot unarmed people even when they commit something illegal. But the fact that the SL navy keeps killing Indian fisherman shows that contempt with which they view the Indian state.

 

[Parthy]

Lankan Navy detains 23 Indian fishermen, 5 boats

The Sri Lankan Navy has taken into custody 23 Indian fishermen hailing from Mandapam and Rameswaram areas when they were fishing in mid sea, a senior official said today.

Assistant Director of Fisheries Markandeyan said that the reason for the detainment, which took place around 11 PM last night, was not known. The Sri Lankan Navy has also taken their five boats into custody.

Authorities came to know about the incident from a fisherman who managed to escape with his boat from the Lankan naval men, he said.

Nandhini Dhinani, Collector of Mannar district in Sri Lanka, said that the five boats have been detained at the Mannar navy camp.

Four Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were detained for intruding into Lankan waters, were released on June 16.



Lankan Navy detains 23 Indian fishermen, 5 boats - The Times of India

 

[Galaxy]

Lankan Navy takes 22 fishermen into custody

Lankan Navy takes 22 fishermen into custody


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Rameswaram: Twenty-two fishermen from Jagadapattinam and other coastal villages in Pudukottai district were on Wednesday taken into custody by Sri Lankan naval personnel when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, officials said.

Inspector of Fisheries Ramamurthy said they had received information about the detention of the fishermen and the Indian Coast Guard had been informed.

The Sri Lankan naval men, when contacted by the Coast Guard, informed them that the fishermen would be handed over to the CG at the International Maritime Boundary line, Ramamurthy said. But they asked them not to come today as the sea was rough on their side, he said.

The Navy personnel had told the Coast Guard that they would inform them as soon as the sea was normal, he said.

On December 15, five fishermen were taken into custody by Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing near Katchatheevu but were released in the night. Last month, five fishermen were arrested by the Lankan Navy on drug smuggling charges and their judicial remand has been extended to January 2.

The families of the arrested fishermen had observed a fast on December 17, demanding that steps be taken for their immediate release. Local fishermen had also refused to put to sea till a solution was found.

Meanwhile, search has been launched to trace three fishermen missing for the last four days, officials said.

Katchatheevu is an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974. Local fishermen have for long been demanding restoration of traditional fishing rights near Katchatheevu and protection to them from attacks allegedly by Lankan navy.

Lankan Navy takes 22 fishermen into custody

 

[Galaxy]

Katchatheevu is an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974. Local fishermen have for long been demanding restoration of traditional fishing rights near Katchatheevu and protection to them from attacks allegedly by Lankan navy.

It would be better if we take back Katchatheevu island which we ceded to SL in 1974.

 

[HeinzGud]

It would be better if we take back Katchatheevu island which we ceded to SL in 1974.

Taking Katchatheevu back won't do any good! keep your fisherman out from crossing our IMBL.

 

[indian_sukhoi]

We used to had a habit of gifting lands to other countries has a sign of goodwill. We also donated Coco Islans to Burma, rumoured that it is now used by Chinese has a Signal Gathering Station. Both US and Indian Navy says there is no station right now.


Fishermen getting caught in other country sea borders cannot be prevented.

Fishermen had to go into deeper waters on account of pollution and chemicalization of coastal region. Earlier they could caught fishes within 10-12km of the coast, but now they have to go atleast 50kms into the sea. They are forced to go into deep waters risking getting caught by Coast Guard.

Taking Katchatheevu back won't do any good! keep your fisherman out from crossing our IMBL.

Today was our people, Tomorrow will be yours!!!

There is no solution for this. Every developing nation having this problem, Despite the Coast Guard's best efforts to discourage fishermen from crossing into pther country waters, they continue to do so in search of a better catch.