Usha Ramanathan - Tamil Nadu Fishermen Killings Sri Lanka And India

Usha Ramanathan

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Sri Lanka and India

by

Usha Ramanathan

Copyright Usha Ramanathan 2018

This book or any chapter in the book may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted, translated or shared, provided it appears in its entirety (entire book or entire chapter) and author's name is included just below the book/chapter title.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Preface

1. How Many Tamil Nadu Fishermen did Sri Lankan Navy Kill?

2. Who is Killing Tamil Nadu Fishermen and Where?

3. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's Harsh Criticism of Indian Government

4. Naam Tamilar Founder Seeman on Indian/Tamil Nationalism and Tamil Nadu

Fishermen Killings

5. Indian Government "Justifies" Sri Lankan Navy Killing Tamil Nadu Fishermen

6. Indian Parliament Debates Sri Lankan Navy Killing Tamil Nadu Fishermen (Half

Truths and Cover Ups)

7. Indian Government Defends Sri Lankan Navy in Court

8. Gujral and the Fishermen

9. Killings of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Continue with Impunity

10. Is Tamil Blood Cheap in the Eyes of Indian Government?

11. Indian Government Gives Money to Sinhala Fishermen but None to Tamil Nadu

Fishermen (The 300 million Rupees Question)

12. Why No Compensation for Tamil Nadu Fishermen Killed by Sri Lankan Navy?

13. No Money to Protect Tamil Nadu Fishermen from Sri Lankan Navy (Cost of Floating

Lights and Price of Tamil Lives)

14. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and The Maria Episode

15. How will Identity Cards Stop Sri Lankan Navy Shooting Tamil Nadu Fishermen?

Abbreviations

AIADMK - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam BJP - Bharatiya Janata Party DMDK - Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam DMK - Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

DPI - Dalit Panthers of India (known as "Viduthalai Siruththakal" in Tamil)

LTTE - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

MDMK - Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

PMK - Pataali Makkal Katchi

NOTE: All except BJP and LTTE are Tamil Nadu political parties. BJP is an all-India political party with some presence in Tamil Nadu. LTTE was a militant Tamil organization in Sri Lanka.

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PREFACE

Tamil Nadu fishermen have been attacked, beaten, shot and sometimes killed by Sri Lankan Navy since the 1990s. What infuriate Tamil Nadu are not only Sri Lankan Navy actions but also Indian government doing nothing effective to stop it diplomatically, economically or militarily, irrespective of which political party was in power at the Indian central government. Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa have written dozens of letters to Indian Prime Ministers to put and end to the attacks. Prime Ministers Gujral, Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi have all promised effective action but the attacks continue with impunity.

This book is a compilation of articles on Killings of Tamil Nadu Fishermen in the Sea published between 1997 and 2016. Even if you are reading this book 20 years or 50 years later, these articles will serve as a historical record with analysis. Also, underlying the killings of Tamil Nadu fishermen is the callous indifference of the Indian government towards the people of Tamil Nadu. Will that attitude change in 50 years?

If Tamil Nadu were an independent country with its own navy, would it act to protect its fishermen? If Tamil Nadu were an independent country, would it use its economic and diplomatic resources to protect its fishermen? Why is not India using its military, diplomatic and economic resources to protect Tamil Nadu fishermen? Are Tamils the mere stepchildren of Bharat Mata (Mother India)?

Will Indian government change its attitude? Or, would Tamil Nadu fishermen be forever without protection and at the mercy of the Sri Lankan Navy as an orphaned child?

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How Many Tamil Nadu Fishermen did Sri Lankan Navy Kill?

(First Published: 2009-06; Updated 2017-05)

Usha Ramanathan

I have been writing for over a decade about Sri Lankan Navy shooting and killing Tamilnadu fishermen. How many fishermen have been killed? I have read various numbers from various quarters. Some people have a vested interest in minimizing the number and some have a vested interest in maximizing the number. Those in power in New Delhi at the Indian central government and political parties and leaders allied with them try to downplay the number. Those opposed to them try to overplay the numbers. In my opinion, the best source is established newspapers not allied with any political party.

I present here the death toll reported by Dinamani. This is one of the oldest Tamil newspapers with a large subscription base. It was founded in 1933. It is presently owned by Express Madurai Limited that also publishes the English daily The New Indian Express that is published from 22 locations in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa. As of this time, to the best of my knowledge, Express Madurai Limited or The New Indian Express or Dinamani is not owned by or affiliated with any political party.

July 16, 2008 issue of Dinamani stated that Sri Lankan navy had shot and killed over 250 Tamil Nadu fishermen just in the past 2 years.

Indian government however gives a much lower number. Indian Defense Minister said in 2007 that Sri Lankan navy had shot and killed 77 Tamil Nadu fishermen between 1991 and mid April 2007. Indian government, of course, has a vested interest in downplaying the numbers because it is doing nothing effective to stop these murders in the sea.