PMK asks PM to boycott SAARC, say SL shoots at fishermen

The PMK alleges that Sri Lankan Navy fires at Indian fishermen and it has led to quite a few casualties.

The PMK has demanded that the union government reconsider its decision to participate in the SAARC meeting in Sri Lanka, scheduled on August 2 and 3 in the event of the island nation not stopping ‘atrocities’ on fishermen from Tamil Nadu.

“In the event of participation in the meet, the Centre should express its concern strongly and persuade Sri Lanka to take permanent measures to curb the `inhuman acts,” PMK MP M Ramadoss said in a letter to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday.

Ramadoss also requested Pranab Mukherji to summon the Sri Lanka Ambassador to India to express India’s grave concern over the ‘atrocities’ of its Navy on the fishermen.

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The Sri Lankan government should be persuaded to issue orders to prosecute the Sri Lankan Navy indulging in such crimes and perpetuating atrocities on the fishermen, he said.

In the letter, a copy of which was distributed to reporters in Puducherry, he said it was regrettable that the Centre had not taken firm steps to stop the acts of the Sri Lankan Navy, though these were repeatedly brought to its notice by representatives of the fishermen community and the Tamil Nadu government.

He pointed to the recent killing of two fishermen of Nagapattinam district by Sri Lankan navy. One fisherman was seriously injured in the firing, he said.

He suggested that the Indian naval force be strengthened at the Indo-Sri Lankan maritime border to prevent `unlawful entry of Sri Lankan naval force into Indian sea`. The force should patrol the Indian maritime borders round the clock.

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He also sought payment of Rs 10 lakh to each of the two families of the fishermen killed and Rs five lakh to the injured.

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