Chennai, Sep 16 (IANS): The CPI-M will conduct a massive protest in Rameswaram on September 20 against the regular attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy on fishermen from Tamil Nadu and the inaction by the Union government in the matter.

State CPI-M Secretary, K. Balakrishnan in a statement on late Sunday night said that the Union government was not taking any diplomatic initiative to solve the issue and added that fishermen from coastal Tamil Nadu were afraid of fishing in the sea over the onslaught by the Sri Lankan Navy.

He added that in the protest meeting at Rameswaram on September 20, fishermen and their families from the fishing belts of Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam will take part.

The CPI-M leader also condemned the recent arrest and tonsuring of heads of a few fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan authorities.

He said that the CPI-M would be in the forefront of agitations being carried out in coastal regions of Tamil Nadu against the treatment meted out to fishermen from the state.

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) also protested against the Tamil fishermen being used to clean toilets in Sri Lankan prisons recently.

In a statement on Sunday night, PMK leader S. Ramadoss said that the state and Central governments were remaining mere spectators and called upon the Union government to take the issue up with the Sri Lankan government and to arrive at a solution to the matter as per international laws and instead of merely condemning the arrests.

The PMK leader said that Sri Lankan authorities had tonsured the heads of five fishermen who were arrested on August 27 and that they were forced to clean toilets and drainage.

The veteran leader said that the insult meted out to Indian fishermen amounts to insulting the sovereignty of India and called upon the Union government to take stern action as per international laws.

On August 1,2024, a fisherman from Tamil Nadu died after his fishing boat capsized when a Sri Lankan Navy coastal patrol vessel rampaged into it. One fisherman went missing while two others in the fishing boat were arrested and later handed over to the Indian authorities.

At present, 87 fishermen from Tamil Nadu are languishing in Sri Lankan jails and around 35 mechanised fishing boats are in custody of Sri Lankan authorities.