Voicing concern over the latest arrest of 49 Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, DMK chief M Karunanidhi today said the Centre should take stern action without delay to put an end to the hardship faced by the fishermen.
"Indian fishermen are being subjected to severe hardship for several years now. Unless the government of India takes a stern action without any delay, there will not be any light in these fishermen's lives," the 90-year-old DMK patriarch said in a letter to his partymen.
The fishermen from Rameswaram had been arrested in two batches this week soon after the resumption of deep sea fishing on June 1 after the annual 45-day breeding season ban.
Stating that a Sri Lankan war ship had been anchored off Kachchatheevu islet, ceded by India in 1974, with reported presence of Chinese personnel presence onboard it, he said, "Fishermen from Tamil Nadu are being threatened by the Lankan Navy personnel. This is a challenge to India's sovereignty."
He also alleged that "no action seems to have been taken despite repeated demands" for the rescue of 11 fishermen from Kanyakumari district, who were allegedly captured by Iranian Coast Guard, when they were fishing off Saudi Arabia coast on December 16 last year.
