Fishermen to stage rail blockade stir on June 24

Talking to newsmen here, P Sesu Raja, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Mechanised Boat Fishermen Association, said the leaders of 11 fishermen associations in Rameswaram met here on Wednesday morning and took an unanimous decision to stage the ‘rail roko’ agitation to draw the attention of Central and state governments to their three-decade long plight and urge them to take a permanent solution for peaceful fishing in the Palk Bay.

Expressing deep concern over the arrest of seven Rameswaram fishermen by Sri Lankan Naval agencies on Monday night, the meeting appealed to the Sri Lankan government to release all of them immediately.

Fishing had become increasingly risky as the Sri Lankan Naval personnel have stepped up the offensive against innocent Tamil Nadu fishermen by arresting them frequently on charges of illegal poaching, destroying fishing nets and boats thereby causing a huge loss, he said.

The meeting warned that similar to the farmers’ suicides, Tamil Nadu would face “fishermen suicides,” if the Centre failed to act immediately on the issue and protect the livelihood of the community.

The fishermen leaders appealed to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to depute all the MPs representing the state to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appraise him about the fishermen issue and request him to hold talks with Sri Lankan government to find an amicable solution. 

The meeting also requested the State government to increase the supply of subsidised diesel to the fishermen from 1,500 litres to 3,000 litres. 

Expressing its strong protest against export companies forming a “syndicate” and offering low prices for marine catch meant for export such as prawn, squid, the meeting demanded the state government to fix procurement price on the lines of sugarcane.