JOIN USBoth Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and the Opposition leader and DMK president M Karunanidhi on Thursday urged the Centre to take immediate steps to solve the ongoing attacks on Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy.
In a strongly worded statement to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalitha said: “The High Commissioner in New Delhi must be summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs and our strong protest lodged. Mr Prime Minister, Sir, you must personally take up this issue with the President of Sri Lanka without any further delay”.
“The entire fishing community in Tamil Nadu has lost its faith in the ability of the Government of India to protect the lives and livelihood of innocent fishermen in the high seas. Surely, we cannot continue our facile ‘do not touch policy’ in the face of these audacious and high handed acts that violate the lives and livelihoods of our fishermen anymore,” she added.
She said, “Centre should not allow this issue to fester anymore through continued inaction or through a weak-kneed and timid approach towards the Sri Lankan regime which continues to perpetrate outrage upon outrage upon innocent Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu pursuing their livelihood.”