Expressing anguish over the ‘firing’ by the Sri Lankan Navy three days ago in which a fisherman was injured, the fishermen association here stayed off the sea on Saturday.
On Wednesday, a fisherman identified as Jesu, 55, had set off to sea for fishing along with six others in a mechanised boat from Thangachimadam.
In the wee hours of Thursday, the occupants in the boat were in for shock when bullets pierced the boat and in the process one of the bullet hit Jesu.
After reaching the shore, the fisherman, who was taken to the local hospital, was subsequently referred to the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, where the surgeons have been performing multiple surgeries since admission.
To show their protest, the fishermen kept off the sea and urged the Central and State governments to take up the issue with the Sri Lankan government.
“If we are targeted even when we are fishing in our waters, the fishermen community may have to look for other jobs. Everyday, we cannot be going out into sea with apprehension. The governments should help us...,” the fishermen told. At least 1,500 fishermen did not go for fishing and 500 mechanised boats were anchored off the shore.
The fishermen association also demanded compensation to the fisherman who was shot at and also urged the government to give relief to the mechanised boat owner, whose boat had been damaged in the incident.
High tide
While the fishermen’s association maintained that they abstained from work to show their protest, officials from the fisheries department said that they had advised the fishermen to stay off sea due to high tide forecast furnished by the IMD. “For the next 48 hours...the sea is expected to be rough. High tidal waves with a speed of 40 to 50 kms/hour may turn to be high to very high.” Hence, they had appealed to the fishermen to stay off sea till Sunday, officials from the fisheries department said.
