Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister (CM) M.K. Stalin is set to present a resolution in the State Assembly regarding getting Katchatheevu Island back from Sri Lanka. 

According to the resolution, the “retrieval of Katchatheevu Island is the only permanent solution to protect the traditional fishing of TN fishermen”. The resolution states that “to mitigate the sufferings faced” by the fishermen at the hands of the Sri Lanka Navy, getting the Katchatheevu island is the only permanent solution. 

“Considering the above, this August, the House unanimously urges the Union Government to immediately review the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement and take all steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island,” the statement of the resolution read. 

The resolution urges Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks with the Sri Lankan Government to “get all our imprisoned fishermen released along with their boats on a goodwill basis, during his official visit to Sri Lanka.”

In recent months, there have been frequent incidents of TN fishermen being arrested and their boats seized by the Sri Lanka Navy for trespassing into the island country’s maritime borders.

In February, fishermen in Rameswaram, TN, started an indefinite strike following the arrest of 32 of their colleagues, and the seizure of five boats. The arrests took place while the fishermen were operating near the North Mannar region, triggering widespread protests in the coastal community.

Most recently, a Rajya Sabha Parliamentarian from a regional political party in TN, Vaiko, called the Navy a “lame duck” over the alarming rate of arrests and continued harassment of TN fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy.

(India Today)