Jayalalithaa blames Karunanidhi for ceding Katchatheevu

Chennai

Canvassing for AIADMK candidates in 14 assembly constituencies of Virudunagar, Sivaganga, Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram districts, she said fishermen were fully aware of the steps that she had taken to solve their problems regarding fishing in Katchatheevu. But Karunanidhi had once said that fishermen fished near Katchatheevu crossing the international boundary line because of their greed, she recalled.

Charging that ceding the Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka was the basis for all problems faced by fishermen from the island nation’s navy, Jayalalithaa said Karunanidhi took no effort to stop the small island being handed over to Sri Lanka in 1974. Had he moved the Supreme Court then, a stay against the plan would have been possible and the traditional rights of fishermen would not have been affected, she said. When the  central government wanted to cede huge tracts of land from West Bengal to East Pakistan in 1961, the Supreme Court had stated that this would be possible only if approved by both houses of Parliament following which the move was prevented, the AIADMK supremo pointed out. Karunanidhi alone should  explain why he failed to act on this chance, she added. Stating that during her first term in 1991 she had pressurised the central government to retrieve Katchatheevu, Jayalalithaa said she had sought the union government to at least ensure a ‘lease in perpetuity’. When this failed to have any effect, Jayalalithaa said she moved the SC in 2008 as the AIADMK general secretary.

“Had Karunanidhi been really keen on protecting the interests of the fishermen, he should have supported me,” she said and added that the DMK chief waited to act after seeing the reaction of the state and central governments.

Stating that the TN government impleaded itself in the case in 2011 when she came to power based on a resolution passed in the Assembly, she said that Karunanidhi who was responsible for ceding the island also filed a case on the issue in the Supreme Court only to fool the people.

She assured that talks would continue to ensure that Indian fishermen were not harmed or harassed by SL navy and that their traditional fishing rights were protected; also efforts would be made to retrieve Katchatheevu, she ended.