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A total of 19 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were sent to Chennai in an Air India passenger flight from Sri Lanka's Colombo following their arrest, by the Sri Lankan Navy on March 6 for crossing the border.
The 19 fishermen included nine from Mayiladuthurai, four from Pudukottai, and six from Karaikal in Puducherry state. All of them went fishing in the sea in two boats on March 6. The families of the fishermen HAD requested the central and state governments to take action to release the fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. Following this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin immediately wrote an letter to the Union Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, requested him to take action to release the fishermen. The Indian embassy officials in Sri Lanka subsequently held talks with the Sri Lankan government officials. Recently, the Sri Lankan court ordered the release of the 19 Tamil Nadu fishermen and they were handed over to the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka. The Indian embassy officials kept the Tamil fishermen under their care, conducted medical tests on all of them and took steps to repatriate the 19 fishermen to India by air. As the fishermen did not have passports, consular officials issued emergency travel certificates to all of them. The Indian embassy also arranged flight tickets for the 19 fishermen from Sri Lanka to Chennai. After their arrival at the Chennai airport, the fishermen were welcomed by the officials of the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department and they were sent to their hometowns in vehicles arranged by the Tamil Nadu government. This incident took place amid External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying that in the last 20 years, 6184 Indian fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka and 1175 Indian fishing vessels have been seized, detained or apprehended by Sri Lanka. "In the last five years, the Katchatheevu issue and the Fisherman's issue have been repeatedly raised by various parties in the Parliament. It has come up in parliament questions, debates and in the consultative committee," he added. Describing the significance of the issue, EAM Jaishankar also said that he has replied 21 times on this issue to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and the issue has been debated in the parliament as well. (ANI)
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