Humanity

The arrest of 60 fishermen of  Tamil Nadu by  Sri Lankan Navy is making news from yesterday. The fishermen who were fishing near Katchatheevu were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy yesterday. [ Sri Lanka today released 34 of the 53 Indian fishermen allegedly arrested by its Navy.]

The fishermen from Thangachimadam, Rameshwaram, part of a group which had ventured into the sea, were fishing near Kachatheevu, an islet in the Palk Straits ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974. 

Indian fishermen were arrested by the Lankan Navy for allegedly poaching in the country's waters, north of Talaimannar.

The shooting and arrest of  Indian fishermen is not a new news. Its been happening from past 3 decades. There have been several alleged incidents of firing on Indian fishermen fishing in Palk Bay. Over 530 fishermen have been killed in the last 30 years.

A Joint Working Group (JWG) has been constituted to deal with the issues related to Indian fishermen straying in Sri Lankan territorial waters, work out modalities for prevention of use of force against them and the early release of confiscated boats and explore possibilities of working towards bilateral arrangements for licensed fishing.

But shooting and arrseting of  Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy never stoped. Even after the official protest, another fisherman was killed in a brutal manner on Jan 22, 2011.

Lets take a loot at the some of the points discussed by two parties in The 4th meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries, which was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 13-14 January 2012. 

The Sri Lankan delegation was led by Ms. Kshenuka Senewiratne, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka and the Indian delegation by Mr. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs of India. Both sides reviewed the developments since the last meeting of the Joint Working Group which was held on 28-29 March 2011 in New Delhi, India. 

The two sides noted that the Joint Working Group process on fisheries had a salutary effect. It was acknowledged that the Joint Statement on Fishing Arrangements of 26th October 2008 had since led to a decrease in violent incidents. 

Both sides reiterated the highest priority accorded by their respective Governments to the well being, safety and security of fishermen from the two countries. Both countries agreed that the use of force could not be justified under any circumstances, and reiterated in this regard the importance of extending humane treatment to all fishermen. 

Acknowledging that fisheries involved the socio-economic and livelihood dimensions of the fishermen living in coastal areas in India and Sri Lanka, the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation that would allow both countries to pursue their fishing activity in a safe, secure and sustainable manner, including discouraging fishermen from using destructive fishing methods. They also discussed measures for the expeditious release of bonafide fishermen from both countries. The need to respect the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) was stressed by the Sri Lankan side. 

Both sides noted the importance of an ongoing engagement between fishermen and fishermen’s associations in India and Sri Lanka. They agreed to encourage a continued dialogue process between the fishermen’s communities of the two countries through regular meetings.

But now it seems that Joint Working Group is just for namesake. it is not doing anything to avoid these kind of incidents.

I don't know the political angle of it. and I don't want to. my conecern is more of a humane thing. The killing of Tamilians in Srilanka and killing of Tamilians in coastal areas is very inhumane thing.

No matter where it happends, no matter to whom it happends, we have to rise our voice against the incidents that are so inhumane.