File photo of PM Narendra Modi with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks that the 'sins' committed by the DMK was the reason for the sufferings of fishermen from Tamil Nadu, seeking to know the steps taken by the Union Government in the last 10 years to restore the traditional rights of the fishermen in the Palk Straits.
“The Prime Minister who calls himself a vishwa guru, becomes a mouna guru when we ask questions on what his government did to stop atrocities against Tamil Nadu fishermen at the hands of Sri Lanka,” Stalin said in a hard-hitting statement.
The Chief Minister and DMK President was responding to Modi’s remarks at a public meeting in Kanyakumari, a BJP stronghold, on March 15, that the sins DMK and Congress were the reason for the problems being faced by fishermen from Tamil Nadu, in an indirect reference to the ceding of Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974.
In the statement, Stalin said people of Tamil Nadu are aware that the island was ceded to Sri Lanka despite opposition from the then state government headed by M Karunanidhi of the DMK. “Is the Prime Minister naive enough to believe that a state government can hand over a part of the country to another country?” Stalin asked.
He also sought to know the actions taken by the Union Government led by the BJP in the last 10 years to retrieve the island. “Why doesn’t the Union Government doesn’t stop Tamil Nadu fishermen from being imprisoned and tortured (by the Sri Lankan Navy)? Aren't they Indians?” the Chief Minister asked.
He also said the Union Government should answer why it didn’t push the case of restoration of the traditional rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Straits much like it “exerted pressure” on the Sri Lankan government for protecting the business interests of business magnate Gautam Adani.
“The Sri Lankan government announces that the boats have been seized and nationalized. Why has the Indian government not officially and publicly condemned this? There is no answer to all this. Why is the Prime Minister who calls himself vishwa guru (becomes a) mouna guru?” he asked.
Fishermen from Tamil Nadu get arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for “transgressing” in their waters by crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Palk Straits. They are often apprehended and their boats seized.