Katchatheevu Takes Centre Stage in TN Politics

Chennai: Katchatheevu, the 285 acre uninhabited island in Palk Straits, suddenly took the centrestage of Tamil Nadu politics on Thursday after the Assembly passed a resolution, moved by Chief Minister M K Stalin, demanding its retrieval to find a lasting solution to the regular attacks on the State's fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue during his tour of the island nation..

Since getting back the island from Sri Lanka was the only way to uphold the traditional fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen and also to put an end to the regular attacks on them, the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement in 1974 should be reconsidered, the resolution said, urging the Prime Minister to make all necessary efforts for it with immediate effect during his official visit between April 4 and 6.

The resolution, supported by all the parties in the Assembly, also wanted the Prime Minister to speak to the Lankan government and free the fishermen languishing in Lankan jails on humanitarian grounds and releasing their fishing boats.

However, the Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, speaking on the resolution, pointed out that the island was handed over in a platter to Lanka during DMK rule with M Karunanidhi as Chief Minister in 1974, though he agreed on the urgent need for the retrieval now and supported the resolution.

Moving the resolution, the Chief Minister said that the BJP had given a promise before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that if the party formed a government, it would ensure that not a single fisherman from Tamil Nadu was arrested. Though there was a recent change of guard in the island nation, there has been no respite from the attack on fishermen, whose rights and livelihood were being taken away.

Though he had written to the Union Government on the need for retrieving Katchatheevu to put an end to the attacks on fishermen, regretfully, nothing had been done, he said, adding that the Assembly wanted constructive discussions on the retrieval of the island.

Stalin said that he had so far written 74 letters to the Union External Affairs Minister and the Prime Minister on the fishermen issue, seeking an amicable solution to the problem.

Palaniswami, who also addressed the media later on outside the Assembly, said that the DMK never made any genuine attempt to get back the island when it shared power with the ruling coalition at the Centre for 16 years with its MPs even serving as Ministers.

He said the DMK was now raking it up with an eye on the coming Assembly elections in 2026 and termed the resolution as a drama to cheat the fishing community. The government that did not talk about it in the last four years of rule was coming up with the resolution after presenting its last Budget of the term, he said.

Listing out the various efforts made by successive AIADMK regimes since the days of M G Ramachandran, Palaniswami said former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was the one who approached the Supreme Court in 2008. Whether the party was in power or not, it took several efforts to get Katchatheevu back, he said.

Reacting to Palaniswami’s remarks, State Law Minister S Regupathy pointed out that the AIADMK had also been in the ruling coalition at the Centre and been part of the Union Government when it could have taken steps to get back the island that was handed over to Lanka because it did not belong to the Union Government but the erstwhile Ramanathapuram kingdom.

The resolution was passed to urge the Prime Minister to take up the issue with the Sri Lankan government as he was going to the country on an official visit that would provide him an opportunity to discuss the issue, he said.

However, the Minister disagreed with the Leader of the Congress party in the Assembly K Selvaperunthagai, who said that there was nothing wrong in the Congress government, led by Indira Gandhi, handing over the island to the neighboring country, as Indira Gandhi ensured that India received, in lieu of the 285 acres of barren land with no water source, rights over 6,500 square kilometres, particularly the Wadge Bank.

Selvaperunthagai, however, speaking on the resolution, said that his party supported it for it was moved by Stalin with a view to protecting the interests of Tamil Nadu Fishermen.

Pointing out that J Jayalalithaa vowed to reclaim Katchatheevu on August 15, 1991, in her Independence Day address, backed out to say on January 20, 1992, that it was not easy to get back the island and had said that the transfer of territory was aimed at improving Indo-Sri Lankan ties, Regupathy said.