The death sentence handed down to five Indian fishermen by a Sri Lankan court will go through the normal judicial process of that country. India has taken the necessary steps to appeal in a bid to save its nationals — whose innocence is a natural presumption in the light of the circumstances of the case — from the gallows.
While this is the technical aspect of the matter, Colombo and New Delhi should take immediate practical steps to ensure that the emotive issue is not permitted to gain political traction either in Sri Lanka, where the presidential election is due in January 2015, or in Tamil Nadu, which is roiled on the issue.
Public sentiment running high in the southern Indian state, frequently on the issue of our fishermen’s right to seek their livelihood in the Palk Straits as well as on the general question of suppression of the rights of Lankan Tamils, have tended to have a negative bearing on New Delhi-Colombo ties, which are of considerable importance to both countries.
On the face of it, the charge of smuggling heroin against the Indian fishermen, who were apprehended in the Palk Straits in November 2011, seems extraordinary. No less unusual is the sentence of death. Indian fisherfolk routinely encounter difficult circumstances in the Palk Straits and are regularly rounded up by the Sri Lankan Navy, whose actions can look high-handed.
These can hardly be deemed to be appropriate conditions for any form of smuggling, leave alone heroin. Indeed, it is hard to think of another case in which smuggling charges have been slapped on our fishermen. In the event, the presumption of innocence will be strong, and not just in Tamil Nadu.
The case has a strong enough echo in India for our ambassador to raise it with Sri Lanka’s foreign and defence ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to take up the matter with President Mahinda Rajapaksa when the two meet at the Saarc summit in Kathmandu later this month.
In the Sri Lankan justice system, the President has the right of pardon if the appellate court or the Supreme Court does not overturn the trial court verdict. However, the effort should be to finesse the issue before that stage is reached so that it doesn’t bedevil bilateral relations. If high state authorities are persuaded of the merits of India’s position, it should be possible to explore technical grounds to squelch the death penalty, which appears harsh in the extreme to any lay observer.
At any rate, even commutation of the sentence could make it possible for the prisoners to be transferred to an Indian jail. That too could lessen the impact of the case on the public mind.
