Mounting incidents of poaching by Indian fishermen have prompted a protest tomorrow on the Mannar beach by 36 organisations representing the local fisherfolk.
All Ceylon Fisher Folk Trade Union General Secretary Dinesh Fernando said yesterday they had regularly taken up the issue with the Navy and the fisheries authorities, but there had been little or no effective response.
The big protest comes in the wake of comments by India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna that the welfare, safety and security of India’s fishermen had always been given the highest priority by the Indian government.
“There have been reports of incidents of attacks on Indian fishermen, allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy. Government, through Diplomatic Channels, has consistently and immediately taken up any reported incident involving arrest or violence against Indian fishermen to ensure their safety, security, early release and repatriation,” Mr. Krishna told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Mr. Krishna said India had conveyed to the Sri Lankan Government that the use of force could not be justified under any circumstance and that all fishermen should be treated in a humane manner.
“The Sri Lankan side, while denying that their Navy was involved, has promised to seriously investigate these incidents,” the Indian Minister said.
“During the meetings with my Sri Lankan counterpart in February 2011 in Thimpu and in May 2011 in New Delhi, I not only conveyed our deep concern at the violence against our fishermen but also stressed the need to ensure that these incidents do not recur. In the Joint Press Release issued in May 2011, India and Sri Lanka agreed that the use of force could not be justified under any circumstances and that all fishermen should be treated in a humane manner,” he added.
Jaffna Fishermen’s Co-operative Society spokesman S. Thavaratnam said yesterday that though the number of the Indian poachers had declined considerably they were still a nuisance and a threat to Sri Lankan fishermen. He urged the Sri Lankan authorities to take effective action, pointing out the problem was most serious off the Gulf of Mannar and the Kalpitiya-Puttalam coastline in the north-western province.
Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratna said he was hoping to take the matter up with his Indian counterpart soon.
A senior Navy officer said the Indian poachers, mainly from the south of that country, were violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) at least three days a week, slipping in after dusk and leaving before dawn.
He said the navy engaged the poachers on a regular basis, and persuaded them to leave without the use of force owing to the sensitive diplomatic relations between the two countries. But they kept coming back and it was now a big problem, he said.
The officer said he believed Indian fisherfolk were encouraged by the fact that the navy was under strict instructions to be lenient with them, even though it was unfair by the local fishermen.
“The matter has to be settled at the earliest through diplomatic channels and there should be a give-and-take policy on both sides. At present it is in favour of the Indians and they continue to have a free run at the expense of the local fisherfolk,” he said. |
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