DMK seeks Centre's intervention for release of 29 arrested

DMK MP Tiruchi Siva today met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here and sought her intervention for the release of 29 Tamil Nadu fishermen lodged in Sri Lankan prisons.
During the meeting, the Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu urged Swaraj to ensure release of 104 boats which were seized and berthed by the Sri Lankan Navy.
"The berthing of boats results in their total damage which in turn will affect the livelihood of the fishermen from the state," Siva said, adding that families of the jailed fishermen were undergoing starvation and suffering due to the absence of their breadwinners.

The DMK MP led a delegation of representatives of the fishermen community from Puducherry and Nagapattinam, Pudukkottai and Rameshwaram districts of the state and met the Union Minister and discussed issues faced by the community while being engaged in their livelihood.
The legislator also demanded the retrieval of Katchatheevu island from Sri Lankan Navy and said that the island had been ceded by the Centre unilaterally, without taking into confidence neither Parliament nor the Tamil Nadu government.
"Hostile nations can easily take advantage of our lack of jurisdiction over Katchatheevu which lies just 18 nautical miles off the Indian coast," Siva added.

Earlier on June 14, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in her memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had also demanded the retrieval of the island and the restoration of fishing rights to Tamil Nadu fishermen in the area.