Tamil Nadu fishermen to meet Manmohan Singh

A delegation of Tamil Nadu fishermen is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday to demand an end to the attacks on them by the Sri Lanka Navy, a DMK MP said.

"They will urge the prime minister to take necessary action so that the 227 Tamil Nadu fishermen jailed in Sri Lanka and the 77 boats seized there are released," T.R. Baalu told IANS over telephone from New Delhi.

"These people have been jailed for nearly three months in Sri Lanka," he said. "They have to be released and there has to be a permanent solution so that attacks on Indian fishermen do not recur."

He said the fishermen would urge Manmohan Singh to arrange a meeting with fishermen from Sri Lanka. "Such a meeting is likely to happen sometime next week," Baalu said.

Recently fishermen in Nagapattinam on the Tamil Nadu coast went on hunger strike demanding the release of the fishermen in Sri Lankan jails.

Representatives of the fishermen later met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

G. Manohar, one of the 10 fishermen visiting New Delhi, said the fishing community from both India and Sri Lanka should meet at the earliest.

"There are around 300 Indian fishermen in (Sri) Lankan jails belonging to Tamil Nadu, Odisha and other states. They have to be released," he said.