Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Who killed the Tamil Nadu fisherman?' that was published in Newsband

Who killed the Tamil Nadu fisherman?

What led to the killing of a Tamil Nadu fisherman somewhere between the Indian and Sri Lankan coast on Monday night? There is no telling who pulled the trigger? Was it the Sri Lankan Navy or some armed group? Did the shooting take place in Sri Lankan waters or elsewhere?

There has been a long-standing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen over fishing rights in the Palk Bay. This shooting exposes the lack of progress in the implementation of the agreement between the two countries. Last year, the two countries had agreed on establishing a Joint Working Group (JWG) on fisheries to help resolve the dispute.

Although instances of Indian fishermen crossing into Sri Lankan waters have always been commonplace, it has been limited to seizure of boats and prolonged detention. The last few years, however, have seen few instances of firing at fishermen.

After he returned to power in 2015, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had said Indian fishermen who crossed the maritime boundary to fish in another country’s territorial waters would be fired upon. We cry foul whenever SLNavy pulls trigger, besides capturing Tamil's boats. That it is always sought to be brushed aside as a territorial issue, is evasive. The centre has done nothing precious in reining over SL govt, though not to talk of fanning the fire.

There appears to be a stalemate position when attempts are afoot for fishing in troubled waters rather than sorting out the long standing issues like mutual fishing rights or boundaries or ensuring the continuous supply of fish etc. Rightly or wrongly affected fisherfolks from both sides feel their issue hangs fire because their issues seldom takes centre stage or precedence in Delhi and/or Colombo because both have no hold on their respective central governments. Inaction or even half hearted palliatives can continue to reinforce this mindset. This feeling however erroneous it may be continues to reverberate because this fishing dispute continues without any serious attempt to resolve it once and for all. Fisherfolks on both sides are not strangers with hostile or confrontational mindsets.

Indian (Tamil) and Sri Lankan (Yazh) fishermen could form a kind of cooperative and share the catch in proportion. Sri Lankan fishermen may also be helped with trawlers to go for deep sea fishing. The problem arises only in sharing the limited catches. The shooting of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the coast guards of Sri Lanka and seizing the boats is a routine affair and fishermen are released on request. It is very difficult to earmark boundaries on water territory and Sri Lanka wantonly killing Indian fisherman and arresting them for fishing in their territories. Both countries must sit across table and sort out the issue to prevent the loss of life. But in all occasions the Tamilian fishermen are facing the problem and there is no loss of life or property to the other side. Hence there is a suspicion that Sri Lanka has the ulterior motive to follow the same type of treatment given to the aggrieved Lankan Tamils. The Central government takes little interest on the issue right from UPA region and still now it has no interest to intervene in the problem and the problem is eternal.