In a letter to the Prime Minister on Saturday, Jayalalithaa also pointed out that the Sri Lankan navy has "escalated the frequency and magnitude of incidents of abduction of our fishermen and seizure of boats and fishing equipment undeterred in recent days."
In her letter, released by the state government on Sunday, she said four Tamil Nadu fishermen who set sail from Pamban fishing base of Ramanathapuram were apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy in the early hours of July 15 and taken to Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka.
"The Sri Lankan government continues to infringe upon the historically enjoyed rights of our fishermen to fish in the traditional waters of the Palk Bay," she said.
Further, she said, the "Sri Lankan strategy of not releasing the boats of our fishermen" was causing great frustration among the fishermen. "Without their livelihood base, these fishermen are in a state of despondency," she said.
She urged the Prime Minister to take up the issue with "the highest authorities of the Sri Lankan Government through our high commission in Sri Lanka and ensure the immediate release of the precariously berthed boats which continue to suffer great damage."
The chief minister also requested the PM's "urgent directions to the ministry of external affairs to initiate earnest efforts to take up this matter with the concerned authorities in Sri Lanka and bring an immediate halt to the apprehensions at high seas and secure the immediate release of our 77 fishermen and their 102 fishing boats, including the four fishermen and their one motorised fishing boat apprehended on July 15 without any delay."
She reiterated that the position of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) "itself is a matter which is sub-judice" in the Supreme Court. She added that she has "challenged the constitutional validity of the ceding of Katchatheevu through the Indo-Sri Lankan agreements of 1974 and 1976" in her personal capacity, and subsequently the Tamil Nadu government had impleaded itself in this case.
(Meera Vankipuram | TNN - timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
