There’s no winner in the long tussle over the case of two Italian marines who shot dead two Indian fishermen, the real losers. The mixed UN tribunal ruling reflects the complications over the issue, against the backdrop of a world where pirates threaten maritime safety.
The Indian government would do well to await arbitration by the UN court in Hamburg. Any bid to see who “won” this round will be futile, though it won’t stop both governments expressing their views. It is just as well Italy has taken matters to an international forum; given the history of delays in our legal system, a quick verdict on the February 2012 shooting looked inconceivable in India.
If territorial sovereignty was not in dispute, this matter would have been settled long ago, with the payment of reasonable compensation for a truly avoidable mishap that may well have occurred on the high seas. Given the time that has lapsed already, it is doubtful if a forensic examination of logs and maritime data can clearly establish where exactly the incident took place.
The question is: do we believe real closure is possible in this case, when personnel of the armed forces of a country, who travelled on a merchant ship to provide it security from pirates, used force to ward off what they believed was a threat. Protracted negotiations have failed and it’s now up to the UN tribunal to see how to mitigate the suffering of fishermen’s families as well as the two marines embroiled in the shooting.
