Defiant fishermen to attend church event in Katchatheevu

TN Mechanised Boat Owners Association leader E. Jesuraja said, “we still consider Katchatheevu as part of Tamil Nadu. So, we will travel there to ensure that our traditional rights to visit the shrine are not lost. If we do not go there on December 7, Sri Lanka can very well stop us from coming there for the two-day annual festival of the shrine in February-March.” Rameswaram Mechanised Boat Owners’ Association president S. Emeritt said “just as we entered Sri Lanka during the ethnic strife, we will go to Katchatheevu on December 7, as the island is still a disputed area following the TN government filing a case in the Supreme Court objecting to it being ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974.” 

Indian fishermen and pilgrims are allowed to visit Katchatheevu for the annual shrine festival either in the last week of February or first week of March without passports or visas as the shrine was originally built by a Tamil fisherman. This has been allowed to ensure continuation of the cultural link between fishers of both nations which also becomes an occasion to meet relatives and exchange/sell things which are not easily available on the island nation. It may be recalled that when the Jaffna Catholic Diocese planned to renovate the small shrine on the barren island, they sought the help of the Sri Lankan Navy which has a camp there. 

Though Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to the Union government to ensure that the renovation included the contribution of Rameswaram fishermen, it was not acted upon resulting in Indian fishermen not being invited to the December 7 consecration. State chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao also wrote to the External Affairs Secretary S Jaishanker a few days ago requesting that locals be given no objection certificates to visit the shrine. Fishermen too applied for permission for around 100 persons, including the catholic clergy of Rameswaram, to visit the island in three boats. Upset by the Centre’s denial, the fishermen have decided to go ahead without permit.