2ND LEAD (Correction)

Jayalalithaa condemns Swamy’s stance on Tamil Nadu fishermen issue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 September 2014, 04:26 GMT]
In a letter sent to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said that the views of BJP member Subramanian Swamy on the fishermen issue “has given rise to resentment and angst not only amongst the fishermen community but also amongst the entire population of Tamil Nadu.”Ms. Jayalalithaa was referring to an interview of Swamy where he had said that he had given the idea to the Sri Lankan government to seize the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen who crossed the IMBL. This letter comes in the wake of the arrest of 9 fishermen, the sinking of one boat and the seizure of another by the SL Navy on Monday. Separately, TESO staged a protest on Wednesday where the DMK chief Karunanidhi said that Tamils in the island lived like slaves, PTI reported.

The TESO protest was organized to calling on the UN to not allow the genocide-accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to address the General Assembly on 25 September.

In the letter to Modi, Jayalalithaa further said that “Without their sole means of earning their livelihood, these fishermen are in a despondent state.

“Denying our fishermen the right to peaceful fishing in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay, to which they have a historical claim, is fuelling a sense of frustration amongst them. The desperate fishermen are resorting to protests and strikes.”

Ms. Jayalalithaa once again reiterated her demand for the retrieval of Katchatheevu.

Chronology: