CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate steps to review the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement at the earliest so Katchatheevu islet is retrieved, and the traditional fishing rights of fishermen are protected forever.
In a letter to Modi, a copy of which was released to the media, the CM recalled a resolution passed by the TN assembly on Thursday in this regard.
“I would like to point out that the origin of the problem is the Indo-Sri Lankan Treaty (Katchatheevu agreement) made between the two countries in the year 1974,” Stalin said, detailing the opposition from Tamil Nadu govt right from the beginning.
The Tamil Nadu MPs opposed in Parliament the ceding of the islet in 1974.
When the agreement was signed on June 28, 1974, without the consent of state govt, former chief minister M Karunanidhi immediately convened an all-party meeting at the secretariat the following day and passed a resolution condemning it. He wrote to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi the same day, and the state legislature passed a resolution on August 21, 1974, opposing the decision of the Centre. Similar resolutions were passed in 1991, 2013 and 2014, reiterating the consistent demand for retrieving the island, Stalin said.
“The frequent apprehensions of our fishermen and seizure of their boats in large numbers have put the lives of the coastal community in a state of permanent anxiety and distress. The livelihood of fishermen has also become uncertain due to arrests and seizures,” he said, recalling his several representations to Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar after assuming office in 2021.
In 2024, a total of 530 fishermen were arrested by the Lankan navy, while 147 more in the first three months of this year.
Stalin said fishermen were being sentenced to maximum imprisonment and being levied hefty fines. Their boats are also confiscated and put to auction.
“All these aggressive measures of Sri Lanka have pushed our fishermen to the brink of extreme poverty and reaffirm our repeated demand for retrieval of Katchatheevu, which is the only way to find a permanent solution to this problem,” he said.