Indian fisherman’s mortal remains returned by Lankan Navy; 2 still in custody  

Mortal remains of Indian fisherman Rajkiran were repatriated on Saturday noon by the Sri Lankan Navy, by handing it over to an Indian fishing boat, near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) that separates both nations.

The mortal remains were taken to the Kottaipattinam fishing hamlet in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukottai district. However, two other fishermen, who accompanied Rajkiran, on the same boat, continue to remain in Lankan custody.

Fishing communities in Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts of Tamil Nadu held a protest condemning the Indian and Tamil Nadu governments for allegedly not protecting fishermen.

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They also angrily raised doubts over actions of Chief Minister MK Stalin, who had only offered Rs 10 lakh in compensation for the bereaved family, a meagre sum in comparison to the Rs 1 crore that Stalin used to demand, when he was an opposition leader. They also urged the Tamil Nadu and Indian Government to promulgate a law to protect fishermen.

Rajkiran, Xavier and Suganthiran left from their respective homes in the Kottaipattinam fishing hamlet in Southern Tamil Nadu, on Monday. On the same day, the fishing boat they were sailing in, ended up getting sunk near the Delft island (between India and Sri Lanka) owing to what the Sri Lankan Navy calls “a collision”, with their navy craft.

The fishing community from Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts in Tamil Nadu have been calling it a “deliberate action of colliding and sinking the Indian fishing boat”. They allege that the latest incident bears total resemblance to an incident from January this year - where a Lankan Navy Boat had allegedly crashed into an Indian fishing vessel, thus leading to the capture and torture and death of its four crew members.

“The boat capsized because of them (Lankan forces), this was not an unexpected incident like they have been projecting. Their navy has radars and a collision like this can’t happen - they have chased the boat and it ended up like this. Sri Lanka is responsible,” complained Prabhakaran, a fisherman, who is said to have been traveling on another boat, that was near to the ill-fated one.

Regarding this incident, the Sri Lankan Navy has maintained that “the Indian vessel was poaching in Sri Lankan waters, across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), on Monday”. They added that the collision occurred when the Lankan Navy craft was chasing away Indian fishing boats.

“One of the Indian fishing trawlers, with aggressive manoeuvres, in resistance to the chasing away action, was on an attempt to evade from the scene, making it collide with SLN craft in operation. In the process, it ultimately descended having lost its stability as well as due to the rough sea condition,” read the Lankan Navy statement.

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The issue between fishermen in Tamil Nadu and the Lankan Navy has been a long-standing and thorny one. It is often alleged that Indian fishermen deliberately head to Lankan waters and indulge in bottom trawling, an unsustainable fishing practice that affects the ecology and marine life in the long-term.

Sri Lanka maintains that arrests of foreign fishermen are being done to protect the livelihood of their own fishing community. Recently, Lankan fishermen from the northern part of the island country had protested, demanding their government to act against Indian fishermen, who were trespassing into their waters. They made attempts to pressure the Indian and Sri Lankan authorities to act against those involved in illegal fishing.

According to India’s National Traditional Fishermen Federation, the latest incident involving the Sri Lankan Navy is seen as deliberate retribution for another recent untoward incident, which involved an Indian boat.

A few weeks back, a large Indian fishing trawler from Tamil Nadu had collided with and sunka smaller Lankan fishing boat. While the Lankan boat was fully damaged and lost, the fishermen survived and returned to the shore.

It is believed that, had the Indian Government or Tamil Nadu government taken some action against the errant Indian boat and offered compensation to the Lankan fishermen, things would have been amicably resolved.

Indian fishermen believe that holding talks between them and their Sri Lankan counterparts would help resolve some of the misunderstandings that are based on the recent collision and alleged trespass.