INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Fishermen in Rameswaram went on a strike on Saturday demanding the release of eight Rameswaram fishers arrested by the Sri Lankan
authorities.All the 800 odd fishing vessels were moored at the fishing jetty and fishermen did not collect the fishing tokens.The Sri Lankan
navy on Wednesday night detained 17 fishermen -- eight Rameswaram fishermen and nine fishers from Pudukkottai district -- on charges of
poaching in the territorial waters of the island nation
The Sri Lanka navy seized the three fishing boats from them.The fishermen were produced before a Lankan court in Jaffna and lodged in prison
after the court remanded them in judicial custody till September 27.Condemning the repeated arrests of fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy, the
fishermen associations called for a strike on Saturday
While the Lankan courts usually release the fishermen on conditional bail that they should never return to Sri Lanka for fishing, the
fishing crafts are not returned to the boat owners.Source: The Times of India--Agencies
