ramanathapu ra m

COME HELLORHIGHWATER
Braving the odds, Tamil fishermen take to the Sri Lankan waters in search of livelihood. Many, but not all, would return.
Mayhem continues,
but methods change
ANANYA
SRIVASTAVA
PAMBAN ISLAND: Now the
Sri Lankan Navy dont shoot but
torture our men. They make
them sit on ice, suck on raw fish,
and beat them with sticks and
chains, said a fisherwoman,
narrating tales of arrests. The
methods have changed but the
atrocities against Indian
fishermen continue.
They also steal or cut our
nets and go, said Arulprakashi
who lost her fisherman son. He
went to the sea 23 years ago and
was shot dead along with six
other fishermen. It took a week
to get his body back. In most
cases, the bodies were not
recovered at all. Her husband
died a few years ago in the sea,
she said, while sorting a recent
catch of fishes, along with fellow
fishermen Mariakala and
Sahayaseeli. The women, along
with several others are engaged
in the frozen fish trade.
On January 7, P Titicraj (34)
from Thangachimadam in
Rameswaram returned with an
injured hand and a damaged
boat. This incident happened a
day after Sri Lanka released 51
Indian fishermen following
diplomatic negotiations.
The attacks against the
fishermen have continued
unabated.
Former Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa had
repeatedly sought Prime
Minister Narendra Modis
intervention to resolve the issue,
but to no avail.
Arulprakashi bemoans the
lack of political support and
relief funds despite complaints
by the fishing communities.
Higher officials promise
compensation but with that they
stop, theres no follow-up.
On top of it, the government
welcomes the Sri Lankan army
with open arms, greets them
and leaves them, she scoffed.
Many fishermen are
migrating to Kerala and
Karnataka in search of daily
wage jobs, said Arulprakashi.
The fishermen are scared of
going to the fishing area and are
therefore migrating. About
1,500 to 4,000 fishermen have
migrated to Karnataka alone.
U. Arulanantham, founder of
Alliance for Release of Innocent
Fishermen (ARIF) said. In fact,
many of those who remain have
stopped taking to the sea, he
added.
The lack of emissaries to deal
with Sri Lanka, as with other
countries like Pakistan, is a
major setback, he said.
Alleged poaching in the Sri
Lankan waters by Tamil
fishermen has damaged India-
Sri Lanka relations at a time
when China is courting the
latter with investments.
How the shermen get into hot water
ARITRY DAS
RAMANATHAPURAM- On the morning
of January 7, a mechanised fishing boat
returned to the Rameshwaram Jetty
with a huge hole on its body. The Sri
Lankan Navy had allegedly attacked it
near the International Maritime Border
and rounded up the fishermen on board.
This never-ending conflict between
the Tamil fishermen and the Sri Lankan
Navy has led to the migration of over
2000 fishermen from Rameswaram,
said U. Arulanantham, a social worker
who looks after the welfare of this
community.
There are no representatives from the
fisher community in the talks held
between the Indian and Sri Lankan
governments regarding the conflict. How
will they ever solve the problem? he
asked.
Sri Lankan fishermen also stray the
Indian waters sometimes. They go up to
the coasts of Gujarat and Odisha. But
they are never captured or tortured by
Indian authorities, he added.
According to Antony (name changed)
who is a country boat fisherman, the
trawlers, which dominate the fishing
around Ramanathapuram, use invasive
methods that harm the ocean bed.
Trawling in these areas should be illegal.
But the powerful and the rich who own
the trawlers get away with it. Trawlers
take too much fish. That is one of the
reasons why country boats have to cross
the border to get fish, said
Arulanantham.
The shallow waters around this part
of the Gulf of Mannar are good for
breeding. So, seasonally we get a good
amount of fish. But at other times, we
Setting out to the Sea |ARITRY D
have to go into deeper waters, said
Anthony.
On January 8, four Rameswaram
fishermen were detained near
Katchatheevu by the Sri Lankan navy.
The island, a territory historically
belonging to the King of
Ramanathapuram, was ceded to Sri
Lanka by the Centre during the
Emergency period of 1975. The
agreements of 1975 and 1976 stopped
fishermen of both countries from fishing
in each others waters.
Since 1991, Tamil Nadu has been
demanding retrieval of the island.
During the Sri Lankan civil war, the
northern part of the country was under
the control of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Elam (LTTE), which was fighting
for a separate homeland for the Sri
Lankan Tamils. Tamil fishermen who
were sympathetic to LTTE had a trouble-
free access to Sri Lankan fishing
grounds.
However, following the end of the civil
war in 2009, the Sri Lanka beefed up
security along the maritime border and
started arresting Indian fishermen who
crossed the line.
Ramanathapuram Collector
Natarajan said, Crossing of the marine
border is illegal as of now. The
government is trying to find a solution.
But meanwhile it could not stop
fishermen from going into the Sri
Lankan waters or from getting caught.
Fishermen said they cross the border
beacuse the punishment is often not
severe but their economic needs are.
However, they demurred of
government indiiference to their plight.
The [Sri Lankan] Navy has taken away
hundreds of boats. Fishermen who come
back get no loans to buy new boats. Nor
does the government help, said Xavier
Nallathambi, a fisherman.
Mostly local and private
manufacturers make our boats. But since
the insurance companies do not have any
tie-ups with them, we cannot insure our
boats. There are no welfare schemes for
fishermen who are caught, tortured, and
their boats taken away, added Patric.
The fishermen also complained that
the government has no subsidy scheme
for the fisher folk. For boat rent or
maintenance, rations, fishing nets and
diesel, each long haul costs Rs. 8,000-
10,000. But often the boats return with
little catch. This is why the fishermen
stray into the Sri Lankan waters.
Giving his version, the District
Collector said, The government has
sanctioned Rs. 10 crore for a cold storage
building. We are creating infrastructure
for deep sea fishing in international
waters. We are also encouraging
fishermen to take up mushroom and
seaweed cultivation as an alternative
livelihood.
However, fishermen protested:
Displacing us from our traditional
S. livelihood is not a solution.

iing
mourning,
woman
takes charge
ARITRY DAS
RAMESWARAM: I cannot let
my sorrow affect my children. I
have to work hard to raise them
so that they can study and get a
job, said A. Jennita, who was
recovering from the trauma of
her husbands death.
Five years earlier, he had
fallen to the bullets of the Sri
Lankan Navy.
With relatives and friends
not of much help, the middle-
aged woman lives with her two
sons and a daughter in a small
house at Thangachimadam in
Government rubbing salt into our wounds Sombre wait for
U M ABHIJITH,
ISSAC JAMES
CHINNAPALAM: On December
22, 2016, the Sri Lankan Navy
arrested 12 Indian fishermen for
allegedly poaching on the
islands territorial waters.
However, relatives of Justin
Tharaviam, one of the captured
fishermen said, the Government
of India has not even informed
us of the arrests, let alone take
efforts to secure their release.
No one has visited our
home, Janu Devi, a relative
said. They came to know about
the incident from television
news, she added. Soon
afterwards, the fisherfolk of
Rameswaram held
government action to secure
their release, but to no avail.
In 2016 alone, around 500
Tamil fishermen were
apprehended by the Sri Lankan
Navy/Marine Police, according
to one account. Most of them
were released within a few days
while the others are still behind
bars. Many have endured
torture.
Its agonising back home for
their families also. In most
cases, the fishermen were the
sole breadwinners and their
capture has left their families
penniless.
Tharaviams family of six,
including five children, is living
on borrowed money. They are
a struggling to make ends meet,
childrens college fees. They
have no money, she added.
The government has done
little to help these families,
alleged fishermen. While
families of the killed fishermen
are offered compensation, the
government does little to help
those lodged in Sri Lankan
prisons, said Saravala, who was
in Sri Lankan custody for 90
days. He was among the 29
Tamil fishermen captured by
the Sri Lankan Navy on July 6,
2012. Their families were often
kept in the dark about the
government efforts to secure the
their release, he said.
Indian officials in Sri Lanka
rarely visited the captured
fishermen in jails, complained
It is also a tale of neglect even
the captured son
after they have been freed.
After we were officially
released by the Sri Lankan
authorities, it took three days
for the Indian government to
dispatch a naval ship to bring us
back, said Saravala.
These fishermen laughed at
the External Affairs Ministrys
claim that whenever fishermen
are captured, the matter is taken
up immediately by the High
Commission of India in
Colombo with the Sri Lankan
government for their
expeditious release.
The Indian Government
does nothing. They are
collaborating with the Sri
Lankan government at our

Fish traders strapped for change

Ramanathapuram district.
Nobody was willing to lend
her money because she had no
means to repay. The local
church had subsidised school
fees for her children, but it is
still difficult for her to
singlehandedly provide for
their food, uniforms, books and
other things.
The family gets Rs. 2700 a
month from a Rs. 5-lakh
compensation deposited in its
name by the State government.
It is not enough, said Jennita.
When she went out looking for
a job, she was asked to pay Rs.
1 lakh. But she has not given
up. She had recently started
running a tiffin shop, selling
idlis and dosas from her house.
After a few days of
mourning, I realized I was the
only one left now that he was
gone. And I had to take care of
the children, she said, trying
to hold back her tears.
She does not want them to
become fishermen.
We did not celebrate
Christmas this year, she said,
her voice choking. A distant
relative took my oldest son to
the port, and the sea made him
feel sick.
Jennita had a message for
many widows who face a
similar struggle. Our trade
depends on going to the sea
and coming back; if one
doesnt, it ends. Earlier you
used to live for your husbands,
now live for your children and
dont lose hope.
demonstration urging
MANASA R,
PRIYANKA P
RAMESWARAM: A cashless
economy does not bode well for
the fish trade since both
fishermen and traders mostly
deal with liquid cash, right from
paying the labourers to the boat
owners.
For an industry where
transactions happen on the go
and stocking up of arrears will
impact every single person in
the chain, demonetisation is a
bad move. However, reactions
to the Prime Ministers move of
demonetising Rs. 500 and
1,000 notes announced on
November 8, 2016, were mixed.
Our business has been poor
since demonetisation. I am
supposed to pay the fishermen
who get me fish, the loading
labourers and the merchants.
But I am not able to do the
transactions, complained fish
trader Anthony Raj.
The government wants us to
do mobile or net banking, but
none of us are very educated. It
will take us months to learn
online banking. If we put even
one number wrong, the money
will go in to someone elses
account. Earlier, the merchant
would send us money in cash.
Now, he transfers it to my
said Devi. It is time to pay the
A scene from the Jetty |
account and I send it to the
labourers accounts. So every
day, they go stand in long lines
in the bank just to get their daily
wages.
The government said
everything will be okay in 50
days, but nothing has happened
in two months. If it keeps
getting worse, the fishing
industry is going to be affected
very badly.
For middleman Susheela,
the Rameswaram fishermen.
MANASA R
demonetisation has worsened
her lot. Fishermen would never
reduce the price but we have to
cut the prices for customers, or
else our fish will go waste. Now
as customers dont have change,
we have to reduce the price even
by half. We have to bear loss,
what else can we do? Fishermen
have schemes and measures.
What do we have? We women
just have to sit sucking our
thumbs.
expense, Saravala said.
Maria Saloni with a picture of her son | PRIYANKA P
PRIYANKA
PARTHASARATHI
But fisherman RAMESWARAM: The house
Arul Stalin gives was unusually quiet on January
Prime Minister 4. Christy Leons family sat
Narendra Modi the glued to the television set. A Sri
thumbs up. This Lankan Court was expected to
is a good move. All decide his fate that day. There
black money will be is no news yet, said his 75-
rooted out. year-old mother, Maria Salomi.
However, I wish we I had told him not to go to
can see the effects the sea that day. But he asked
soon. We common me, If I dont go, how will my
people are hit the kids study? cried Maria.
most. I feel that Christy (52) and four other
soon the 2,000- fishermen were caught at the
rupee notes will be India-Sri Lanka border on
withdrawn and December 21, 2016.
what will the From what I know, the Sri
people who have Lankan Navy came on a regular
stocked up those boat and stopped beside
[new] notes do? Christys boat. Christy and his
They will be men thought they were
caught. It will fishermen in need of help and
work, this scheme approached them, but they
will. immediately started shooting,
A village headman Allan said Maria.
James said, Although I support Christy, who was a heart
the move, it has been very patient, collapsed on the spot.
tough. We have to sell our fish He was admitted to a hospital
for half the price. What can we there. The doctors said it was a
do? The customer is standing mild attack. We thought they
with a 2000-rupee note. How would leave him after that, but
do we give change? nothing happened, said his
Pointing to a monylender wife, Edwin Christy. He had
who just came by his house, recently undergone a heart
James asked, How long will he operation and was also taking
wait? Prime Minister is great, medicines for high blood
lets go fishing, interjected pressure and diabetes. How
Stalin. will he take his medicines now?
How can they be so heartless?
asked Maria.
The seized boat was Christys.
It was worth Rs 20 lakh. We
dont know if they will give it
back to us. That is our only
livelihood, she said.
The four others caught with
Christy used to work for him.
We recently took a loan of Rs
25,000 and distributed Rs
5,000 each to the other four
families. They are also
dependent on us. said
Prasanna, Christys brother. No
government official has met the
family yet. We asked the MP
here and [he] set up a meeting
with the Chief Minister. But
because of their partys internal
conflicts, the meeting got
cancelled, he added.
The walls of Christys house
were adorned with prizes and
medals. Those are his
daughters. She is pursuing BDS
now. said Maria. The 22-year-
old girl, Regilda Mary, was the
last one to get the news of his
arrest. I was in the hostel at
that time. When I came home,
it was crowded. I thought my
father was sick.
Maria took out a picture of
Christy and looked at it
longingly. Such is our life.
When they go out to the sea, we
keep waiting and calling to
check on them. Only when their
boats return, do we find peace.
she said.