Chennai: BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, who undertook a visit to Sri Lanka, claimed that Colombo had assured to release 42 boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen in two or three days’ time and also positively consider a plea (from her) to release the remaining 100 fishing vessels soon.
The senior leader who had returned to the city on Saturday night following a three-day visit to Sri Lanka upon the invitation of Tamil MPs in the island nation said the Lankan authorities furnished her the list of 42 boats that would be released. These 42 are among the 142 fishing vessels that have been seized by the Lankan authorities. “When I pointed out that 100 fishing boats of the Indian fishermen were yet to be released, Colombo assured (me) that the boats would be released at the earliest,” Dr Tamilisai told reporters here on Sunday.
During her visit, she had highlighted the problems faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen, especially the arrests of fishermen and seizure of their boats. “As the undue delay in releasing the fishing vessels caused extensive damage to the crafts, I had prevailed upon Lanka to take steps to release boats soon,” she said. She also visited areas affected by war and interacted with the Lankan Tamils.
