Nedumaran making S. Indian fishermen 'a scapegoat'

Move to divert Navy's attention

by Ananth Palakidnar

"Leave us alone and get lost" was the message from the Nagapatnam fisherfolk to the leader of the Tamil National Front leader Pala Vedumaran when he sought the help of the fishermen of Nagapatnam to provide vessels to sail into the Lankan territorial waters on Wednesday.

According to reports from South India the fisherfolk of the South Indian coastal region were furious over the attempt by Nedumaran and around five-hundred of his supporters who were planning to infiltrate the Lankan waters to reach the shores of the Jaffna Peninsula. Nedumaran along with his party men made the attempt with the announcement that they were taking the foodstuff for the civilians in Jaffna who were in need of essential food items urgently.

Nedumaran and his men were arrested by the Indian Navy when they reached the coastal town of Nagapatnam to approach the fishermen to get the boats to reach Jaffna. The leaders of the fishing communities in the coastal areas of Nagapatnam and Rameswaram commenting on Nedumanran's attempt said that by instigating such an attempt the poor South Indian fishermen were being made a 'scapegoat' for his political stunts.

Informed sources said that the Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have intensified security along the coastal areas of South India and in the seas of the Palk Straits.Therefore the South Indian fisherfolk have been warned to be within the territorial waters of India.

The stringent measures adopted by the Lankan Navy in intensifying its patrolling around the Mannar and the Jaffna seas made any attempt in crossing the Lankan waters suicidal, the sources said.

It has also been pointed out that the South Indian fishermen also had bitter experiences with regard to the recent influx of refugees from the North of Sri Lanka due to the covert activities of the LTTE using the South Indian fishermen as shields.

Meanwhile, Nedumaran and his men who were denied access to Jaffna by the furious fishermen have been staging a hunger strike for the past five days in Nagapatnam.

The call by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Muttuvelu Karunanithi to give up the hunger strike was rejected by Nedumaran on Saturday insisting that he should be allowed to sail to Jaffna, the sources said.

According to Lankan Defence sources the attempt by Nedumaran on Wednesday was a manipulation to divert the Sri Lankan Navy's attention towards his 'drama' in the Palk Straits to pave the way for the three LTTE vessels to unload their lethal cargo in the South-Eastern shores whereas the LTTE's strategy did not work as the Navy was taking the upper hand in dealing with the three Tiger vessels.

[email protected]