All fishermen’s associations in Rameswaram, India have decided to strike work today (12) to press the Centre and State governments of India to take up with Sri Lanka their long-pending charter of demands.
Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Mechanized Boats Fishermen’s Welfare Association N.J. Bose stated that demand, among other things, the release of two students- a schoolboy and a college student of Rameswaram- who were allegedly arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy recently and lodged in a prison in Northern Sri Lanka.
The Centre must take steps to have both the students released immediately considering the year-end exams the students would have to take, he said, adding, other Tamil Nadu fishermen languishing in Sri Lankan prisons should also be released.
They also demand the compensation for 37 boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen which cannot be rebuilt post-seizure by the Sri Lanka Navy.
Source: Deccan Chronicle
-Agencies
