Attacks on fishermen expose Centre, State’s betrayal: Jayakumar
CHENNAI: Strongly condemning the Sri Lankan Navy for ramming their naval ship into the Tamil Nadu fishermen’s boat and stranding them in mid-sea, former AIADMK Fisheries Minister and AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar slammed the Union and State governments for failing to protect Tamil Nadu fishermen.
“The silence of the BJPled Union government and the DMK government in the State over the continuous assault on Tamil Nadu fishermen amounts to a greater betrayal,” Jayakumar said in a social media post in connection with the recent incident, in which the Sri Lankan Navy reportedly rammed their vessel into a fibre boat and capsized it. Four fishermen from Nagapattinam district were injured and stranded in mid-sea. He also posted a video of the fishermen expressing their anguish over the growing attacks on them by the Navy of the island nation.
The former minister continued in the same vein and unleashed a scathing attack on Chief Minister MK Stalin by equating the state government to a monarchy. “The CM, without shame, took refuge in the US after giving the State (administration) like a toy to his son (Udhayanidhi),” he said and wondered whether he understood the suffering of the fishermen.
Jayakumar came down heavily on their former ally and said that the BJP government at the Centre remains as if it has nothing to do with the plight of Tamil Nadu fishermen.
The Sri Lankan Navy arrested more fishermen in 2024 than in the last decade, the AIADMK leader said. “They have been subjected to harassment at the hands of the racist Lankan Navy. It has become an ongoing story,” he noted.