 "Katchatheevu island")
Katchatheevu, a small uninhabited island in the middle of India and Sri Lanka, is making headlines again after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an attack against the Congress party for "callously" giving it away to Sri Lanka in 1974.
PM Modi, citing a Times of India (TOI) report, posted on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), "Eye-opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu…"
The report by TOI stated that according to an RTI reply obtained by Tamil Nadu's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai, the Indira Gandhi government in 1974 handed over Katchatheevu island, located in the Palk Strait, to Sri Lanka.
It further cited the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, on the island issue. "I attach no importance at all to this little island, and I would have no hesitation in giving up our claims to it," Nehru wrote in 1961, the newspaper claimed.
Where is the island of Katchatheevu located?
Katchatheevu, a tiny uninhabited island spanning 285 acres in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka, is spread over 1.6 km in length and slightly over 300 m wide at its widest point.
Situated northeast of Rameswaram, approximately 33 km from the Indian coast, it lies around 62 km southwest of Jaffna, Sri Lanka's northernmost point, and is about 24 km from the populated Delft Island, which is part of Sri Lanka.
The only structure on Katchatheevu is St. Anthony's Church, built in the early 20th century. During an annual festival, Christian clergy from both India and Sri Lanka jointly conduct services, drawing pilgrims from both nations. In 2023, 2,500 Indian devotees travelled from Rameswaram to Katchatheevu for the festival.
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However, despite its occasional influx of visitors, Katchatheevu is unsuitable for permanent habitation due to the absence of a freshwater source on the island.
What is the history of Katchatheevu negotiations?
During the early medieval period, the island fell under the control of Sri Lanka's Jaffna kingdom, but by the 17th century, it had changed hands to the Ramnad kingdom based in Ramanathapuram, India. While under British rule, it was administered as part of the Madras Presidency. Since as early as 1921, both India and Sri Lanka asserted their claims over the island to decide maritime fishing boundaries.
In June 1974, then-Prime Ministers of India and Sri Lanka, Indira Gandhi and Sirima R D Bandaranaike, signed an agreement to define the boundary between their nations in the waters from the Palk Strait to Adam's Bridge. According to media reports, a joint statement issued on June 28, 1974, declared that the boundary had been established "in accordance with historical evidence, international legal principles, and precedents."
Furthermore, the statement indicated that "this boundary lies one mile off the west coast of the uninhabited" Katchatheevu. This agreement marked the culmination of negotiations that had been ongoing since October 1921, initially conducted between the governments of Madras and Ceylon.
When did the Katchatheevu controversy begin?
As per reports, Sri Lanka asserted its sovereignty over Katchatheevu by citing the Portuguese occupation of the island from 1505 to 1658 CE as evidence of jurisdiction. India, on the other hand, argued that the former Raja of Ramnad (Ramanathapuram) held possession of it as part of his estate. According to a report in The Hindu dated March 6, 1968, which featured an interview with the former Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi, Katchatheevu had been under the jurisdiction of the estate "since time immemorial" and served as the "last outpost" of the Ramnad Estate.
The report stated that the former Raja mentioned that taxes were collected by the estate until 1947 when the State government took over following the Zamindari Abolition Act. However, during a debate in the Lok Sabha in July 1974, then External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh stated that the decision regarding Kachatheevu had been made after thorough research of historical and other records pertaining to the island.
Why is Katchatheevu important for Indian fishermen?
Most of the Indian fishermen who venture into the area and encounter action from the Sri Lankan authorities hail from Tamil Nadu, several media reports have said.
During the time when the DMK governed Tamil Nadu in 1974, it contended that the Congress government had not considered its perspectives before signing the agreement with Sri Lanka. The party had organised several protests in response.
Under the leadership of J Jayalalithaa, the Tamil Nadu government consistently raised concerns about the issue and even resorted to legal action.
In anticipation of the visit by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to India last year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had written to PM Modi, urging for discussions on the matter. He later corresponded with PM Modi again after numerous fishermen were detained by the Sri Lankan authorities.
In his letter dated February this year, Stalin further emphasised the impact on the livelihood of Tamil fishermen, citing the increasingly limited access to traditional fishing waters, which threatens the economic stability and social fabric of the communities dependent on the fishing industry.
