The protest comes in the wake of an increase in alleged infiltration by Indian trawlers into Sri Lankan waters in the past few weeks.
Dozens of northern fishermen on Sunday boarded boats from the coast of East Mullaitivu district to Point Pedro in Jaffna in the north, demanding that Sri Lankan authorities implement laws banning the destructive bottom fishing method of fishing.
The protest comes in the wake of an increase in alleged infiltration by Indian trawlers into Sri Lankan waters in the past few weeks. on 13 october Sri Lankan Navy arrests 23 Indian fishermen and seizes two fishing vessels Resumption of action after months of limiting the arrest of foreign fishermen for fear of COVID-19, on charges of trespass.
Fishermen in northern Sri Lanka have been resisting Indian trawlers in their seas for more than a decade. Bilateral talks and the government machinery have yet to find a solution. India has been unable to prevent its fishermen from crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), and has not yet succeeded in diverting them into the sea. deep sea fishing methods elsewhere.
In January this year, when four fishermen from Tamil Nadu were found dead after an attack allegedly carried out by the Sri Lankan Navy, tensions have loomed large, at times with humanitarian costs.
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The protests on Sunday were led by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs MA Sumanthiran, S Sreedharan and Shankiyan Rasmanikam and former MP Shanti Sreesantharaja, and used Sri Lankan laws to launch crackdown on Fisheries Minister and Jaffna MP Douglas Devananda. demanded to be pressurized. who are involved in illegal fishing.
Mr Sumanthiran told the media in Jaffna, “We have joined this protest to demand to protect the livelihood of our fishermen, and to demand that the Fisheries Minister initiate appropriate legal action against the fishermen who are fishing from the bottom.” Do it.”
Sri Lanka banned bottom trawling in 2017 and imposed heavy fines in 2018 to curb illegal fishing, which has been a recurring concern in the narrow Palk Strait that runs between northern Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. NS The 2017 law banning trawlers was based on a private member’s bill Introduced by Mr. Sumanthiran in 2015.
The new law and harsher penalties have led to a temporary reduction in the number of Indian fishing vessels in Sri Lankan waters. This brought some relief to the thousands of northern Sri Lankan fishermen whose post-war livelihoods were badly affected by the destruction of their coastline by Indian trawlers.
but from trawler According to northern fishermen, India is back again in large numbersSome of whom had recently written to the Indian Consulate in Jaffna seeking compensation.
While Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu are repeatedly caught trespassing, the TNA has avoided a challenge to Tamil Nadu on the issue, as the state provided solidarity to Sri Lankan Tamils during and after the civil war years . The TNA rarely challenges India, seeing the country as an ally and mediator for a long-pending political solution from the Sri Lankan government.
fragmented polity
With the largest group of Tamil legislators – with 10 seats in the 225-member parliament – from the north and east, the TNA also faces criticism for “ignoring” the economic concerns of its voters.
“As a coalition they do not show common understanding or clarity on our problem and how we should respond collectively and responsibly. Tamil politicians should not use our problem to settle accounts among themselves. It is only our Will weaken the struggle,” said Annalingam Annarsa of Federation of Jaffna District Fishermen Cooperative Society unions.
“We are neither supporting nor opposing today’s protest. For the northern fishing community, it is hard to overcome the scarce support that comes their way. The fishermen observed that it was also difficult to resist the politically influential Fisheries Minister, a local MP, whose intervention they would need to solve their woes.