Chennai: Protesting the death sentence awarded to five members of their ilk by a Sri Lankan court for drug trafficking, about 30 lakh fishermen in Tamil Nadu on Thursday went on a one-day strike, urging Centre to put pressure on Colombo for their release. Fishermen stayed off the sea in 13 coastal districts of the state including Nagapattinam, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari and Ramanathapuram among others, fishermen association representatives claimed. Shops were closed in fishermen-dominated localities of the state with black flags hoisted on their homes as a mark of protest, they added. The Sri Lankan court’s decision had come as a ‘shock’ and Thursday’s protest was a ‘token strike,’ they said and warned of intensifying their protests if their comrades languishing in prison in the island nation were not released.
They claimed the fishermen hailing from Ramanathapuram were innocent and are ‘framed.’ A Sri Lankan court had awarded death sentence to the fishermen for drug trafficking.
