Fishermen's 7-day protest ends; Bridgo's body buried

Fishermen agitating over the killing of a colleague allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy withdrew their seven-day old protest today after the funeral of the fisherman was held here amid tight security.

The protesting fishermen took out the mortal remains of Bridgo in a procession from Rameswaram government hospital to Thangachimadam.

The body was later buried at Anthoniarpuram Catholic cemetery.

Yesterday, the fishermen had decided to withdraw their agitation after talks between a delegation of their leaders, led by Struggle Committee President Arualanandam and Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan here.

After the meeting, Arulanandam said the Ministers had assured that their demands would be met.
 

The development came three days after Sri Lanka released 53 Indian fishermen, arrested in recent past, as per a decision by the two countries to set free fishermen in each other's custody to defuse the tension following the killing of Bridgo.

The fishers had been on protest since March 7, refusing to receive the body of the youth unless a central minister visited the island and gave them an assurance that such incidents would not recur.

The stir had drawn support from several political leaders who had visited the fishermen and expressed solidarity, demanding the Centre's intervention in nabbing the culprits.

The 22-year-old fisherman was shot dead on March 6 allegedly by the Lankan Navy personnel while fishing in a mechanised boat off Katchatheevu islet.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami had last week written to the Centre urging it to summon Lankan High Commissioner to India forthwith and convey to him "the strong feelings of the Government of India and government of Tamil Nadu about the 'unprovoked' firing on fishermen and non-adherence to earlier agreements on this issue."

Meanwhile, in Kanyakumari district, a group of fisherwomen owing allegiance to South Asian fishermen friendship organisation submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding an inquiry into the firing incident.