In another maritime incident pointing to the frequent tensions between Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen, seven Indian fishermen were caught by the Sri Lankan Navy early Sunday morning on the accusation of having crossed the international maritime boundary. The incident has been reported by the Rameswaram Fishermen Association as the fishing boat called IND-TN-10-MM-746, IND-TN-10-MM-746 which belonged to V Isaac Paul at Thangachimadam in Rameswaram, was arrested by the Sri Lankan authorities at around 5 a.m.
The fishermen, who were arrested, known as P Tuthar (40), P Edison (51), Shanmugam (50), Sakthivel (47), Jagadish (48), Dalvin Raj (46), and Anbazhagan, are inhabitants of Rameswaram and the surrounding districts. They have been transported to Kankesanthurai Port in the northern part of Sri Lanka, where the questioning and investigation will go on.
In a report submitted by the Rameswaram Fishermen Association, the association had said that around 456 fishing boats had gone to the sea on Saturday with valid fishing permits issued by the Rameswaram fishing port. Inasmuch as there is adherence to the regulation, there are still cases where fishermen accidentally cross the unclear maritime boundary, which presents problems to fishing groups in southern India.
This is the second incident in the recent past, since this month, another incident, albeit a great one, involved the Sri Lankan Navy rescuing four fishermen of Dhanushkodi in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, as their boat had capsized in the waters of the Gulf of Mannar. The men, N Nambu Prakash, N Nambu Gunalan, K Nambu, and S Sathyaraj, were stranded on the way towards Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar because of strong winds and the rough sea conditions. They were arrested and not charged, but held in custody for a few days before repatriation through Colombo undetected.
The consistent naval clashes prove the necessity of establishing a diplomatic and collaborative solution to the situation, with the violation of the border and the security of the fishermen of both countries.
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