Leaders of fishermen from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu are earnestly pleading for a prisoner swap between Lanka and Tamil Nadu to bring to an end the intense agony which incarcerated fishermen are facing on both sides of the Palk Strait.

This demand stems from indications from Lankan officials that Tamil Nadu fishermen now in custody in the island nation will be released if, at the same time, Tamil Nadu also releases those Lankans in its custody.

Currently, there are 38 Tamil Nadu fishermen, 84 boats in Lankan custody and 22 Lankan fishermen and 40 boats in TN and Andhra Pradesh jails.

Hunger Strike

Fishermen’s leaders fear that the on-going indefinite hunger strike by 30 out of the 38 Tamil Nadu fishermen who are lodged  in Jaffna jail (which entered its second day on Wednesday) may snowball into a major crisis. “In discussing the problem of Tamil Nadu fishermen with governments, our first demand has always been that innocent fishermen from both countries should be released. But this suggestion has never been taken seriously,” said N Devadas, the Rameswaram-based Chairman of the Indhiya-Ilankai Pechchuvarthai Kuzhu (India-Lanka Talks Group).

A dejected Devadas told Express over the phone, that they had made this plea before the Indian External Minister Sushma Swaraj and other Central Ministers Pon Radhakrishnan and Nitin Gadkarai, as well as Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister and the State Fisheries Secretary Dr Vijayakumar, but to no avail. U Arulanandam, who heads Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF), said that he had written letters after letters seeking a swap, but governments in New Delhi and Chennai.

“Follow up is promised, but not kept. And political leaders are indifferent. This is a mystery to me. Perhaps they want the problem to continue,” he said.

Class Difference

However, Arulanandam wondered if “class” is a factor. “On the one hand you see trade between the two countries booming. All issues relating to big business are sorted out amicably. But on the other hand, the fishermen’s issue is left unattend,” he said.
(The New Indian Express)