Chennai (The Hawk): The Indian fishermen were allegedly arrested because the Sri Lankan Navy claimed they had entered their seas and were fishing there.
The mechanised boat fishermen of Jagadapattinam coastal village in Tamil Nadu's Pudukkottai district held a protest by blocking local roads on Wednesday in demand of the release of the 24 Indian fishermen who had been detained by the Sri Lankan Navy a few days earlier.
M.K. Stalin, the chief minister, has already asked the Ministry of External Affairs to get involved in getting the fishermen released.
The Sri Lankan Navy also has custody of the pricey mechanised fishing boats.
The Sri Lankan Navy detained fishermen from the Jagadapattinam coast in Tamil Nadu's Pudukkottai district when they fished close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The Indian fishermen were allegedly arrested because the Sri Lankan Navy claimed they had entered their seas and were fishing there.
The Pudukottai Fishermen Association is protesting in the streets with women and children in tow, pleading with the state and federal governments to take quick action to secure the release of their comrades.
The fishermen have pleaded with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Government of India, and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to raise the issue with the Sri Lankan government and secure the release of the fishermen who are being held by the Sri Lankan Navy.
In an interview with IANS, R. Rajesh Kumar, a fisherman from Jagadapattinam, Pudukottai, stated, "We are losing money as a result of these arrests and detentions by the Sri Lankan navy. The expensive mechanised boats that the Navy seized later rusted in their care, making us accountable to the banks from which we had borrowed money to purchase these boats. The Indian government needs to take action and find a lasting solution to the problem that is making us anxious. Many people are on the edge of having a nervous breakdown, thus we implore Jaishankar, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and minister of state for external affairs, to take action for our cause.
(Inputs from Agencies)