A moratorium on bottom trawling and support to the fishermen is a good first step towards a solution of the Sri Lanka-India (Tamil Nadu) issue of transboundary crossings.
Rajkiran, 30, from Tamil Nadu’s coastal Pudukkottai district, is the fifth Indian fisherman to lose his life in the Palk Strait this year, after Samson Darwin, A. Mesiya, V. Nagaraj and S. Senthil Kumar from Ramanathapuram, who died in January. The boat that Rajkiran was on, with two others, sank late on October 18 after reportedly colliding with a Sri Lankan Navy patrol vessel. The two other fishermen were remanded in Sri Lanka until November 1, while Rajkiran was reported “missing”, until his body was recovered by the Navy a few days after the incident. Tamil Nadu fishermen’s associations have accused the Sri Lankan Navy of brutally attacking Rajkiran, while Sri Lanka has denied the allegations.
In both instances this year, what we know is that the fishermen died while trying to earn a living.
Read more:
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-festering-crisis-in-the-palk-strait/article37167165.ece