Politically motivated agitations could worsen fishermen's plight

by P. Krishnaswamy

Convenor of the National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO), W. A. Herman Kumara is involved with the welfare of fisher people, with long established affiliations to several fishermen' associations in the North, South as well as in Tamil Nadu. He said the focus of the Tamil Nadu political leaders on the fishermen's trans-border problem was out of proportions, and politically motivated agitations on this matters would only create a volatile situation instead of resolving them.

The Tamil Nadu political parties, including the ruling DMK, are on a week-long agitation and boycotts demanding the Indian centre to intervene to stop the ongoing military offensives against the LTTE in the Wanni.

Herman Kumara who led several member delegations to meet with members of Tamil Nadu fishermen's associations said that through discussions they were able to resolve similar 'trans-border' problems, on several occasions in the past, without seeking government to government level talks. Sri Lankan fishermen drifting into Indian territorial waters and their Indian counterparts entering Sri Lankan territorial waters have been there for several decades without assuming the dimension of an issue between the two countries. It is characteristic of fishermen to pursue fish stocks, disregarding territorial borders, Herman Kumara said.

In fact, after the sea security zone was introduced in the north which very much restricted northern fishermen's fishing hours and fishing areas, it was South Indian fishermen who were hugely benefited. Hundreds of their fishing boats and trawlers entered the northern territorial waters to haul fish stocks in huge quantities and the northern fishermen had repeatedly complained about it to us and other concerned authorities, he said.

Probably the problem assumed serious dimensions after shoot out on Tamil Nadu fishermen purported by the Navy but nobody knows whether it was by the LTTE to provoke Tamil Nadu, Herman Kumara said.

The fishermen of the two countries should be left alone to resolve their mutual problems instead of political or military actions and interventions that are likely to worsen the situation, Herman Kumara said.