CHOGM protests affecting us more, say Tamil Nadu fishermen

Rameswaram: A day after their arrest for allegedly entering Sri Lankan waters, thirty fishermen from Tamil Nadu were on Wednesday remanded to custody till 19 November by a court even as their colleagues in Rameswaram began an indefinite fishing boycott demanding release of all fellow fishermen and boats under detention in the island nation. In another development four Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested along with their boat last month, were ordered to be released by another Sri Lankan court, fishermen association officials said quoting information received by them. They said the 30 fishermen were produced before a court in Mannar which remanded them to judicial custody till 19 November. [caption id=“attachment_1214447” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The court in Oorkavalthurai ordered the release of the four fishermen from this island, arrested along with their boat last month, they added. Meanwhile, the fishermen in Rameswaram today commenced their indefinite boycott of fishing demanding the release of all their colleagues detained in Sri Lanka on the charge of entering the island illegally. They said the intensification of agitations to press for India’s boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka was leading to more problems for them in the mid-sea in the form of ‘attacks by Lankan Navy personnel’. The decision to boycott fishing was taken by All Fishermen Association on Tuesday. Talking to reporters, Tamil Nadu Fishermen’s Association leader N J Bose demanded the release of boats impounded by Lankan Navalmen. He said the both the Central and the state governments were not helping them to fish in their traditional areas and the (anti-Sri Lanka) statements by political leaders in Tamil Nadu was only causing more harm to them and they had to go without work. He alleged that the Sri Lankan Navalmen had already damaged many of their boats and caused injuries to many fishermen besides detaining several others. “Either the government should take aggressive steps to prevent such incidents, or we will have no other option except to go to Sri Lanka without boats and surrender to them,” he said. PTI