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Sri Lankan Navy Arrests 34 Tamil Nadu Fishermen

Sri Lankan Navy Arrests 34 Tamil Nadu Fishermen
Being an island, a significant population is involved in fishery traditionally. There have been incremental cases of Rameswaram fishermen allegedly killed or arrested by Sri Lankan navy along the maritime borders of India and Sri Lanka from the time of Srilankan civil war from 1983.[70] In the face of simmering tension after the 1985 January Colombo bound Yaldevi train attack in which 22 Sri Lankan soldiers and 16 civilians were killed, Rameswaram fishermen dared to venture to seas spelling acute hardship for the 10,000 fishermen family An estimated 381 fishermen have been killed in the sea due to shoot outs from 1983 to 2009.[70] The Srilankan army attributed the killings to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but the casualty continues even after the end of LTTE in the region. The Tamil Nadu state government has increased the compensation of casualty from the original 1 lakh rupees to 5 lakh rupees. There has not been a single prosecution in any of the 381 killings committed so far from the Indian judiciary. The cases not being filed is attributed to the fact that people killed beyond the maritime boundary of India are not eligible for compensation and not many file complaints against the Srilankan navy. Though the Indian judiciary has provisions to prosecute foreigners, there is little progress due to the diplomatic overheads involved. Indian government has also ventured into the use of technology like use of Global positioning system (GPS) by the fishermen and enabling cellphone blips to alert their mobile phones whenever they are crossing into Sri Lankan waters. The Srilankan navy has confirmed reports on Indian fishermen risking the international boundary due to depleted catch in Indian waters. Wikipedia.
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Being an island, a significant population is involved in fishery traditionally. There have been incremental cases of Rameswaram fishermen allegedly killed or arrested by Sri Lankan navy along the maritime borders of India and Sri Lanka from the time of Srilankan civil war from 1983.[70] In the face of simmering tension after the 1985 January Colombo bound Yaldevi train attack in which 22 Sri Lankan soldiers and 16 civilians were killed, Rameswaram fishermen dared to venture to seas spelling acute hardship for the 10,000 fishermen family An estimated 381 fishermen have been killed in the sea due to shoot outs from 1983 to 2009.[70] The Srilankan army attributed the killings to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but the casualty continues even after the end of LTTE in the region. The Tamil Nadu state government has increased the compensation of casualty from the original 1 lakh rupees to 5 lakh rupees. There has not been a single prosecution in any of the 381 killings committed so far from the Indian judiciary. The cases not being filed is attributed to the fact that people killed beyond the maritime boundary of India are not eligible for compensation and not many file complaints against the Srilankan navy. Though the Indian judiciary has provisions to prosecute foreigners, there is little progress due to the diplomatic overheads involved. Indian government has also ventured into the use of technology like use of Global positioning system (GPS) by the fishermen and enabling cellphone blips to alert their mobile phones whenever they are crossing into Sri Lankan waters. The Srilankan navy has confirmed reports on Indian fishermen risking the international boundary due to depleted catch in Indian waters. Wikipedia.

RAMESWARAM, Tamil Nadu -- Thirty-four Tamil Nadu fishermen were today arrested in separate batches by Sri Lankan Naval personnel near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits and close to the Lankan coast respectively, a fisheries department official said.

The department's assistant director, who did not want his name to be quoted, told PTI that 23 fishermen from Kottaipattinam in Pudukottai district were arrested at Neduntheevu close to the Sri Lankan coast while others were arrested while fishing near Katchatheevu.

The Lankan naval men allegedly damaged two boats by forcing them to collide and also ruined 40 fishing nets, he said.

The fishermen have been taken to Talaimannar and Kangesanthurai respectively, he said, adding, seven boats were also seized.

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