They were told that a team of senior officials would receive them at the Chennai airport when they arrived from Dubai and that the media too would be waiting to quiz them. They were instructed to tell everyone that they were looked after well by the Indian diplomats in the UAE. But, for the five fishermen from Ramanathapuram district, who were shot at by the US Navy Jebel Ali port in Dubai and who returned home on Sunday, the future seems bleak.
On July 16 last year, a group of fishermen, including six Indians and two UAE nationals, were in a trawler in the sea off Jebel Ali when security guards on board the US navy’s refuelling ship, USNS Rappahannock, opened fire. One Indian fisherman, Arumugam Sekar, was killed instantly and three others sustained bullet injuries. On Tuesday, the fishermen, who are from the pilgrim town of Rameswaram, told TOI that they were not paid proper compensation for what they suffered at the hands of the US navy.
Thrown out of their jobs after the incident, their UAE sponsor had given 3,000 dirhams (30,000) each to the severely injured and 1,000 dirhams (10,000) to those who escaped without injuries. Among the five, Muniraj and Panpuvan were seriously injured in the firing while Murugan escaped unhurt. Muthukaruppan and Kumaresan too were lucky not to have suffered any serious injuries.
Back home, the men have now turned to the state government to take up their case. “Two of the men cannot work anymore because of the bullet injuries. We are the breadwinners. Our only hope is the government,” said Murugan. They were denied justice and no proper compensation was given to them, he said.
“We have no idea what happened to the case. The UAE sponsor took our signatures to cancel our visas. We were not even paid for seven months of work we did before the firing incident,” said Murugan, who has two daughters
Muniraj, who spent several months in a hospital in Dubai after he sustained severe bullet injures, said, “I cannot work any more since my injuries are yet to heal. Even my wife has not come to see me after I arrived in Ramanathapuram as she knows that I cannot support the family.” Muniraj, who now walks with the help of crutches, said whatever money they received as compensation was used to pay off debts. The US government, too, had offered compensation of 5 lakh to the family of the fisherman, who was killed.
In Rameswaram, the fishermen’s families are being hounded by money lenders from whom they had borrowed to go to UAE seeking jobs.
2013 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.