2ND LEAD

Seizure of Indian trawlers, a token action: fishermen representatives

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 February 2011, 00:15 GMT]
Around 500 Eezham Tamil fishing society representatives who gathered at Point Pedro in Vadamarradchi refused Thursday to hand over the poaching Indian trawlers, which they had seized from the intruding Indian fishermen on Tuesday. Declaring that their action against Indian poaching was a token one, the representatives urged immediate action from the Indian authorities. The fishermen representatives also refused to hand over the vessels to Sri Lankan military, urging the concerned authorities to resolve the dispute by civil means.



Several forces, interested in seeking political mileage, both in India and in the island, were taking advantage of the present situation, the fishing society representatives have warned.

The political parties of deviated agenda fail to address the core issues, they further said.

The Thursday's meeting in Jaffna was attended by Sri Lankan Minister and paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, who said he was in constant communication with Ms. Kanimozhi, Indian parliamentarian and the daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, on resolving the dispute.

Mr. Devananda was on the scene watching the capture of Tamil Nadu fishermen on Tuesday. But, he carefully avoided public exposure of his presence.

The EPDP of Devanda, facing public anger following exploitation of sand dunes in Vadamaraadchi East and over alleged killings in recent times in the region, is now using the fishermen issue for its political image, fishermen sources in Vadamaraadchi said.

In the meantime, sources in Maathakal and Vadamaraadchi East said intruding Indian fishermen had attacked local fishermen Thursday when they attempted to confront the poaching vessels.

112 fishermen from Naakappaddinam were captured and their 18 poaching trawlers were seized by the local fishermen near the coast of Vadamaraadchi North and East Tuesday. On Wednesday, Hindustan Times reported that another group of 24 Indian fishermen had been captured.

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