Occupying Navy brings in Sinhala fishermen to Pungkudutheevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2011, 12:24 GMT]
In a daring attempt of colonisation, genocidal Sri Lanka’s Navy occupying the islands off Jaffna brought in hundreds of Sinhala fishermen Sunday to settle in Pugkudutheevu island and to engage in fishing. Leaders of the protesting local Tamil fishermen association were taken to the SL Navy camp in the island and were served with death threats. The Sinhala fishermen came with all preparations to make settlements in the island and to engage in the lucrative business of catching sea cucumbers that are of export value. Their activities are now stalled following protests. Punkudutheevu, an island off Jaffna close to the Tamil Nadu coast has a recently built extensive base of the Sri Lanka Navy. Sinhala militarisation and colonisation of the land of Eezham Tamils enjoy blessings of the New Delhi government.

The SLN officers have attacked the representatives of the native fisheries societies, who were confronting the occupying southern fishermen. However, the protest was continuing throughout the night and the southern fishermen were not able to establish their huts or engage in fishing, according to the sources in Pungkudutheevu Monday morning.

Also earlier, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry and the Sri Lanka Navy had brought hundreds of southern fishermen to Vadamaraadchi North and Vadamaraadchi East.

The war-affected native fishermen, deprived of fishing facilities, who were again affected by the illegal poaching by the Indian fishermen and the occupying fishermen from the South, decided not to cooperate with the southern fishermen, who were brought from South and settled near SLN camps by the Sri Lanka Defence Ministry and the Sri Lanka Navy. Due to the protest by the native fishermen, the southerners brought down by the military were forced to vacate Vadamaraadchi North.

However, more than 1,000 fishermen brought by the military are still occupying the coastal area and are engaging in fishing conch shells and sea cucumbers in Vandamaraadchi East.

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