By IANS
Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Sunday wrote to the central government urging it to negotiate with neighbouring Sri Lanka on behalf of Indian fishermen.
Drawing the union government’s attention to the “indiscriminate” firing by the Sri Lankan Navy that killed one Indian fisherman Saturday, the chief minister has asked the government “to take up the matter with the Sri Lankan government,” a press statement here said.
A fisherman from Pudokottai district of Tamil Nadu was killed when allegedly fired upon by the Sri Lankan Navy while fishing in the waters off the Dhanushkodi coast. Two fishermen survived the firing.
The state government has sanctioned Rs.100,000 as compensation to families of each of the fisherman killed.
At least 150 Indian fishermen have been killed in incidents of firing by the Sri Lankan Navy since the 1980s and nearly 300 have been injured.
Last year, the chief minister sought central intervention to protect Tamil Nadu’s fishermen at least three times.
Sri Lanka is supposed to have mined the waters on its side of the international maritime border to prevent Indian fishermen from fishing in Lankan waters and to prevent refugees from northern Sri Lanka from crossing the Palk Strait.