Mortal remains of missing Indian fisherman retrieved, 2 others in Sri Lankan custody

The mortal remains of an Indian fisherman from Tamil Nadu, who went missing at sea on Monday, were retrieved on Wednesday noon. The boat he was on-board had collided with a Sri Lankan vessel in the Palk Strait, the waters between India and Sri Lanka.

Two other Indian fishermen who were on the same fishing boat (now sunken) are in Lankan custody since Monday. The two fishermen and the mortal remains of the third fisherman are expected to be repatriated by Wednesday night.

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Three fishermen from Kottapattinam, in the Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, are said to have been fishing in the area surrounding Delft Island in the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka's navy has identified the two fishermen who were rescued as Xavier and Sakunthran, and the deceased as Rajkiran. In a show of solidarity, fishermen from Kottaipattinam did not venture out to sea on Wednesday.

According to an earlier statement from the Sri Lankan Navy, they rescued two Indian fishermen from a sinking Indian fishing boat that was “poaching” in Sri Lankan waters across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), on Monday. The Lankan Navy maintains that while they were chasing away Indian fishing boats, one of those boats that was attempting to evade collided with a Navy craft, which eventually led to its sinking.

“As the said task being put in to practice, one of the Indian fishing trawlers, with aggressive manoeuvres, in resistance of chase away, was on an attempt to evade from the scene making it collided 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 on Monday’s incident.

However, Indian fishermen allege that the Sri Lankan Navy vessel had deliberately crashed into the Indian fishing boat, with the intention of sinking it. They are of the impression that the third person(Rajkiran), whom they say was steering the boat from within the wheelhouse was trapped within and sank along with the boat.

The National Traditional Fishermen Federation of India believes that the incident involving the Sri Lankan Navy was deliberate retribution for another incident involving an Indian boat.

There was an incident a few weeks back when an Indian fishing trawler collided with and sank a smaller Lankan fishing boat. Even though the Lankan boat was completely damaged and lost, the Lankan fishermen survived and returned to shore.

It is contested that things could have been resolved amicably if the Indian government or Tamil Nadu government had taken action against the errant Indian boat and offered compensation to the Lankan fishermen.

The local fishermen also see an unfortunate similarity between Monday’s incident and one that took place in January this year. They allege that in a similar incident in January, the Lankan Navy had rammed their vessels into an Indian boat, which resulted in the death of four fishermen.

They believe that discussions between Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen would resolve some of the misunderstandings arising from the collision and the alleged trespass. They are also aggrieved by the Tamil Nadu Government and the Indian Government's lack of concern for their lives.

In recent times, Northern Sri Lankan fishermen have also been protesting against Indian boats that venture into their waters, carrying out alleged illegal fishing activity. They've also made attempts to pressure the Indian and Sri Lankan authorities to take action against those engaged in illegal fishing.