The claim of Tamil Nadu fishermen that they do not go beyond Kachchativu to fish and that they are attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy in Indian waters is completely fictitious, say Jaffna fishermen.
“It is a blatant lie (Pachcha Poi),” said an angry K Rajachandran, president of the Ambal Fishermen’s Cooperative Society, Karainagar, Jaffna district.
“Indian fishermen come within 2 to 3 kilometres of the shore here. And they come day after day in large numbers – 50 to 150 vessels at a time,” he told Express.
Rajachandran sneered at Tamil Nadu government’s contention that the retrieval of Katchchativu island by India from Lanka would put an end to the controversies over fishing in the Palk Strait. “If Kachchativu becomes the border, our problems will only increase. Kachchativu will then become the baseline for Indian fishermen and they will start coming even closer to our shores,” he said. The Karainagar fishermen argue that even with Kachchativu in Indian hands, TN fishermen will still fish in Lankan waters, because it is here that the catch is there.
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