A day after the arrest of five fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami urged the Indian Prime Minister to take up the issue personally with the highest authorities in Sri Lanka and to bring the apprehensions at high seas to an immediate halt, Deccan Herald reported.
The Chief Minister also asked Modi to direct the Ministry of External Affairs to secure the immediate release of 16 fishermen and 136 fishing boats including the five fishermen and their one mechanised fishing boat apprehended on June 18 without any delay.
“It has been reported that 5 fishermen from Tamil Nadu who set out in a mechanised fishing boat for fishing on June 17 from Mandapam fishing base of Ramanathapuram District after a 61 day long fishing ban, were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy, while fishing in their traditional waters in the Palk Bay, in the early hours of June 18 and taken to Karainagar, Sri Lanka”, he pointed out.
Stating that the repeated arrest and prolonged incarceration of our fishermen create unrest among the fishermen community of Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami requested the Centre to undertake a strong diplomatic stand so as to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
“My Government reaffirms its commitment to finding a pragmatic working solution and had initiated several measures with the support of Government of India”, he said adding “this necessitates an urgent intervention at the highest level of Sri Lankan administration to avert these arrests of our fishermen and to release and return the fishing boats and equipment of our fishermen in a refurbished condition so as to win the confidence of our fishing community”.
Mr. Ali Sabri Rahim, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Puttalam District whom an open warrant had been issued, attended a public ceremony at Al Aksha National School in Kalpitiya today (16) as the special guest of honor.
All Ceylon Makkal Congress MP Ali Sabri Raheem had been arrested by Kalpitiya police after he surrendered to the police today morning.
Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena has been sent on compulsory leave pending disciplinary investigation over his failure to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings.
The 22nd amendment to the constitution dealing with the term of the President has been gazetted by order of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Auspicious times widely followed by candidates keeping with traditions will be taken into consideration by the Election Commission in fixing the date and time for the conduct on the Presidential polls.
The Cabinet of Ministers has granted policy approval to change the wording “exceeding six years” in paragraph (b) of Article 83 of the Constitution to “exceeding five years” with reference to the President’s tenure.
Leave Comments