India condemns Sri Lankan Navy for suspicious stance in Tamil Fishermen's death
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New Delhi, Jan 22: India has expressed grief and shock at the unfortunate loss of lives of three Indian fishermen and one Sri Lankan national following a collision between Indian fisher boat and a Sri Lankan naval craft. The External Affairs Ministry conveyed India's strong protest in regard to the incident through Indian High Commissioner to the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on Jan 22. A strong demarche was also made to the Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi.
India emphasized the need to deal with issues related to fishermen in a humanitarian manner. According to the Indian side, the existing understandings between the two govts in that regard must be strictly observed and utmost efforts should be made to ensure that there is no recurrence.
Four Indian fishermen, who were reported missing after their mechanized boat allegedly collided with a Sri Lankan Naval (SLN) Craft in Sri Lanka's territorial waters while presumably attempting to evade arrest on Jan 18, were declared dead by the Sri Lankan authorities on Jan 21. The deceased A.Mesia (30), V.Nagaraj (52), N.Sam (28) and S.Senthil Kumar (32), all hailing from Thangachimadam coastal hamlet in Ramanathapuram district had ventured into the sea for fishing from Kottaipattinam in Pudukottai district on Jan 18. The Sri Lanka Navy in its official website on Jan 19 claimed that the Indian fishing boat was found in its territorial waters about 8 nautical miles within the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) northwest of Delft Island.
According to the claims of other fishermen, the Sri Lankan Navy had sunk the boat, however, the Lankan Navy claimed that the boat sank while the fishermen were resisting arrest. Only after being sunk is when the boat rammed into our vessel, claims the Lankan Navy. The fishermen brief the incident as the Lankan Navy was trying to harass them near Neduntheevu when they were trying to return. This is when one patrol vessel rammed into a boat, and the boat carrying A Mesia, V Nagaraj, N Sam and S Senthil Kumar sank.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the four fishermen. CM Palaniswami has also condemned the Sri Lankan Navy and accused it of destroying the livelihood of fishermen from Tamil Nadu.