REGAIN
KACHACHA THEEVU
TO
SAVE OUR FISHER FOLK
The
New Indian Express dated 17th November 2011 in its front page carried a report
from Madurai the title of which was BAN FISHING IN PALK STRAITS: COAST GUARD. Indian
Coast Guard recommended declaring India-Srilanka International Maritime boundary
line a No Fishing Zone in an affidavit filed in Madurai branch of Madras High
Court.
On
October 14 of 2011, the court hearing a public interest litigation filed by
Advocate Stalin seeking protection for Indian fishermen, had passed an interim
order directing the Coast Guard to deploy sufficient coast vessels under the
supervision of senior Indian navy officials. In response to that PIL Coast
Guard came out with such a suggestion which even a nincompoop won’t suggest.
Protests by Tamilnadu Chief Minister Ms.J.Jayalalitha led to the Central
Government directing Coast Guard to withdraw that foolish affidavit.
The
only solution to stop everyday massacre and harassment of our fishermen is to
redraw the maritime boundary between India-Srilanka and the issue should go
before International Tribunal of the Law of Seas.
In a
long drawn process through four conventions covering high seas, territorial
seas, continental shelf and living marine resources which began in 1958, United
Nations Organization had strived to evolve consensus which ended in U.N.O
mooting out International Law of Seas 1982. It was ratified by India in 1995.
As per
article76 of the International Law of Seas 1982 " The coastal state shall
establish the outer edge of the continental margin wherever the same extends
beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the
territorial sea is measured. On the submarine ridges, the continental shelf's outer
limit shall not exceed 350 nautical miles from the baselines from which the
breadth of the sea is measured."
IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PROVISION INDIA SHOULD HAVE GAINED 7 to 9 LAKH SQUARE
KILOMETERS. But in negotiating to extend this exclusive economic zone India got
another chance to regain Kachcha Theevu but faltered and missed the chance.
The so called rights of Indian fishermen were
never honoured and the Government of India must place a white paper in Indian
Parliament on the merciless shootings and killings of fishermen by Srilankan navy.
This assumes importance in the wake of Director of Border Security Management
under External Affairs Ministry filing another affidavit in January 2012 in
same court stating NO FISHERMEN WAS ATTACKED by Srilankan navy and Government
of India has no proof of such occurrences. Daily newspaper reports have been
reporting such attacks almost regularly, and a Government of India official has
the audacity to tell a brazen lie before Madurai branch of Madras High Court.
It is because our Members of Parliament irrespective of political affiliations
have failed to echo Tamilnadu’s voice in Parliament. Hence in past the poets of
Puducherry even organized a street corner poet’s symposium to awaken our
Members of Parliament from slumber.
The
new boundaries as per International Law of Seas 1982 must be redrawn and India
should take care to get back Kachcha theevu. Without wasting time Indian
Government must take this issue to the International Tribunal of the Law of
Seas under United Nations for re-demarcating our territorial waters.
N.Nandhivarman
General Secretary Dravida Peravai
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