Following his visit to Tamil Nadu, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to apprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi the burning issue of death sentence awarded to five Indian fishermen by a Sri Lankan court, which was raised by the fishermen community.
Sources said, Gadkari is expected to have a separate meeting with the PM on the issue, which may also be attended by other minister from TN, Pon Radhakrishnan.
Earlier in the day, indications were ripe that it would be taken up at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but sources say, later it was decided that the sensitive issue involving negotiations would not be discussed in the full Cabinet at this point.
Gadkari said that the fishermen community “expressed their sentiments to me and I will take their case forward to the PM and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.”
The five fishermen, all hailing from Tamil Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of smuggling of drugs. They were given death penalty by a Sri Lankan court last month. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin had earlier said, “India’s High Commission in Colombo will appeal to a higher court through a lawyer against the judgment of the lower court against these five Indian fishermen.”
He had also said that India has been pursuing the case at both levels -- legal and official -- and will continue to do so. India’s envoy to Sri Lanka Y K Sinha visited them in jail on Tuesday and assured them of government’s support to secure their release and repatriation.
Meanwhile, with protests demanding action by Central and State governments for the speedy release of the five fishermen spread to several coastal districts and other parts of the State, fishing activities were severely affected in a majority of the coastal pockets on Wednesday.
Similarly, agitations continued in the Rameswaram island for the fifth day on Wednesday. VCK cadre staged demonstrations across the state and in some places they reportedly burnt the effigy of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
(TNIE)
