No Money to Protect Tamil Nadu Fishermen from Sri Lankan Navy
TAMIL TRIBUNE, December 2009 (ID. 2009-12-02)
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Killings and violent attacks of Tamilnadu fishermen by Sri Lankan navy are going on for a quarter of a century. In spite of repeated requests from Tamilnadu State chief ministers, other political leaders and fishermen's associations, Indian government has done nothing effective to stop these attacks. Attacks go on with impunity.
One excuse both the Sri Lankan and the Indian governments gives is that Tamil Nadu fishermen are crossing into Sri Lankan waters. Despite the fact that crossing into their waters does not give Sri Lanka the right to shoot and kill our fishermen, fishermen had asked the Indian government to install floating lights at the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Indian government's response was that it would be too expensive. How much is the life of a Tamil Nadu fisherman worth to India?
In May 2003, speaking at Madapam on the Tamil Nadu Coast, Indian Coast Guard Admiral Suresh Mehta said that it would be too expensive to install floating lights on the entire IMBL but may be installed on critical areas. Alright, we do not need the lights all along IMBL. All we ask is for lights in areas like near Kachchativu where most of the Sri Lankan Navy attacks take place. More than 6 years have gone by since Admiral Suresh Mehta's speech. Where are the lights? A few hundred fishermen have been killed and many more injured and millions of Rupees worth of fishing boats and equipment have been damaged. How much is the life of a Tamil Nadu fisherman worth to India?
Within the last ten years India had given billions of Rupees to Sri Lanka. According to a news report in India Times website dated July 15, 2008, "India committed 109.2 million dollars aid to Sri Lanka during the first five months of 2008" (it is about 4 billion Rupees at the currency exchange rate at that time). While giving billions of Rupees to the country that is shooting and killing Tamil Nadu fishermen, India refuses to spend a fraction of that money to fund the installation of floating lights. [The financial aid we mention above was not for the rehabilitation of war-displaced Tamils. That aid was given after the war ended in May 2009. This aid was primarily to beef up the Sri Lankan economy as the Sri Lankan government spent billions of Rupees for the war.]
India was also ready to spend money on beefing up the Sri Lankan military. In 2005 India repaired Trincomalee Naval Base fortifications to help protect Sri Lankan Navy, the same navy that was attacking our fishermen. India gifted five Mi-17 helicopters to Sri Lankan military in 2006. India is funding the reconstruction of Palaly Air Force Base after the war ended in May 2009. How many thousands and thousands of floating lights could you install for this money?
Let us look at it from another angle. It was reported in August 2003 that Indian Coast Guard would spend 7000 crore Rupees (70 billion Rupees) in the next 5 years to buy 15 ships. What is the purpose of these coastguard ships? To protect Indian citizens. India could spend a small fraction of that money to protect the lives of Tamilnadu fishermen. It seems that Tamil life is not worth spending a few million Rupees.
SUMMARY: India refuses to install floating lights at the boundary with Sri Lanka because of cost. How much is the life of a Tamil Nadu fisherman worth to India?
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