Jaya raps duplicity, asks PM to pull up Lanka

CHENNAI: Accusing the Sri Lankan government of playing a double game on the issue of attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday reiterated her stand that the Centre should view the continued aggression against the Tamil fishermen as a national issue and not as an isolated issue of the State.“The government of Sri Lanka, who, on the one hand, are participating in various Indo-Sri Lanka meetings in order to resolve the fishermen’s problems, on the other, are resorting to violence against our fishermen,” the CM said in her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh bringing to his notice the latest attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Lankan Navy on October 8.Requesting the PM’s intervention, Jayalalithaa asked Singh to convey the Centre’s serious objection to the Sri Lankan government with regard to the continuous incidents of harassment of Tamil fishermen who seek to eke out their living peacefully in their traditional areas of fishing in the Palk Bay area.She expressed distress at reports that the Sri Lankan Navy chased away Tamil fishermen by firing in the air off Mandapam coast of Ramanathapuram district on October 8, the day she brought the issue to the notice of Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, who was on his way to Colombo. Even before the Foreign Secretary reached Colombo, this incident took place. “It is a matter of great concern to the Tamil Nadu government as it accords the highest priority to protect the fishing rights of its fishermen and ensuring their safety,” the CM said.Jayalalithaa emphasised that the harassment of Tamil fishermen should be viewed as an act of provocation and aggression against India by Sri Lanka, similar to acts of firing across the border by Pakistan and China. Observing that there has been a uniform pattern of either Sri Lankan Navy personnel or miscreants from that country harassing and assaulting the State’s fishermen, Jayalalithaa said several persons have been injured in such attacks and there have been ­many insta­nces of theft of their catch, damage to nets and snatching away of the fishermen’s personal belongings. In this connection, the CM recalled the 16 incidents of attacks that took place since the present government took over.