Casteism:  the fishermen's dividing line

by a Special Correspondent

Rising casteism is threatening the unity of Tamil Nadu fishermen - a division which could affect their bargaining power vis-a-vis North Sri Lankan fishermen in the never ending dispute over fishing rights in the Palk Strait and Palk Bay.

Rising casteism threatening unity of Tamil Nadu fishermen pic: courtesy imgkid.com

‘Futile to divide Tamil Nadu fishermen on caste lines’ pic: courtesy nagapatinam.tn

Though the term 'caste' is avoided to be politically correct in a State which is wedded to the egalitarian Dravidian ideology, it has been brought in by the backdoor through the concepts of 'traditional' and 'non-traditional' fishermen.

By 'traditional fishermen' it is meant fishermen from the traditional fishing castes, and the term 'non-traditional fishermen' refers to those who are drawn from other castes.

The distinction between traditional fishermen and non-traditional fishermen has been revived or reintroduced by M.Ilango, a former member of the Puducherry (Pondicherry) Legislative Assembly and the current President of the National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF). In a statement on the allegation that Tamil Nadu fishermen are smuggling drugs into Sri Lanka, made by a popular Tamil Nadu daily *Dinamalar* and the Indian Coast Guard in a case before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Ilango said that this charge must be investigated by the Central and Tamil Nadu governments and the 'fair name' and innocence of Tamil Nadu's traditional fishing communities should be established.

He later told a Chennai-based English language daily that 'traditional fishermen' would not indulge in smuggling but 'non-traditional fishermen' could, because of differing value systems.

The issue of drug smuggling camp up when *Dinamalar * said that as per reports from Jaffna, the six-man Indian fishermen's delegation which met Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in Colombo on May 12, had a smuggler in it. Ilango indirectly gave credence to this charge when he said

that the delegation was led not by traditional fishermen, but by non-traditional fishermen.

He pointed out that N.Devadas and B.Yesuraj, who led the delegation, are non-traditional fishermen drawn from other castes.

They are Thevars. He also pointed out that S.P.Anthonymuthu, Advisor to the Indo-Lanka Fishermen's Welfare Forum, who took the fishermen to President Sirisena, does not belong to a fishing caste.

Ilango's suspicion is that leaders from other castes may have other interests and may not represent the fishermen's interest faithfully or may use the fishermen for their own ends, political and non-political.

Answering this charge, Yesuraj told the media that it is regrettable that the Tamil Nadu media and a fellow fishermen's leader should cast aspersions and ignore the singular achievement of meeting the Sri Lankan President informally and getting 37 Tamil Nadu fishermen released.

"President Sirisena had urged the resumption of talks between fishermen's associations and we are confident that the fourth round will be held," Ilango said.

"We see an end to the entire problem," Devadas added. "The allegation that we took a smuggler with us to the negotiating table is made by anti-social elements who want to break the unity of fishermen. We could not have taken a smuggler as we went with the knowledge of the Indian and Tamil Nadu governments and with valid visas," Yesuraj said.

Caste configuration

Explaining the caste configuration, Consultant to the South Indian Federation of Fishermen's Societies, V. Vivekanandan, said that while fishermen in Nagapattinam and Karaikal (Puducherry) areas belong to traditional fishing castes like Paravar and Mukkuvar, those in Rameswaram are from the Thevar group of non-fishing castes.

Vanniars have also entered fishing, he pointed out. While Ilango belongs to a fishing caste, Devadas and Yesuraj belong to one of the Thevar castes, which are mainly agricultural. Vivekanandan argued that in this day and age, it is futile to divide Tamil Nadu fishermen on caste lines because over the years, due to the introduction of mechanized boats and trawlers in the 1970s, fishing has become a highly profitable commercial activity attracting people from various castes and communities. These days, both boat owners and fish workers (who go out to sea) are drawn from a variety of castes.

One-upmanship

Asked why casteism has raised its head now, Vivekanandan said that it is a product of 'one-upmanship' developing in a field which has become a political playground.

People like Ilango resent that Devadas, Yesuraj and Anthonymuthu had got together and had unofficially met President Sirisena to get the 37 fishermen released.

And the 37 happen to be from the Nagapattinam-Karaikal area, Ilango's home turf. Yesuraj and Devadas said that they did not go to Sri Lanka to meet President Sirisena but to attend the ceremonial induction of Anthonymuthu's son into the priesthood.

When Anthonymuthu casually said that he could arrange a courtesy call on President Sirisena through his links with Ministers D.M.Swaminathan and Mahinda Amaraweera, the guests from Tamil Nadu agreed. At the informal meeting, to their amazement, the President accepted their request to release the fishermen. In fact, he released them within a few days. But Ilango pooh poohed this achievement, saying that fishermen had been released by Sri Lankan Presidents earlier too. There was nothing to coo about in the release of the thirty seven men now, he said. Vivekanandan said that there had been one-upmanship on the part of Anthonymuthu, if not Devadas and Yesuraj. In fact, his one-upmanship is resented by North Sri Lankan fishermen too. K.Rajachandran, President of the Ambal Fishermen's Cooperative of Karainagar in Jaffna, doubted if Anthonymuthu really represents fishermen. He is seen as a person trying to build a political career using the fishermen's issue without being a fishermen himself. Rajachandran even declared that North Sri Lankan fishermen will not participate in meetings in which non-fishermen represent real fishermen.