The National Fish Workers Forum of India thanked Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday for the release of 16 Indian fishermen and said the constant ‘hardship’ faced by the fishermen due to the action of Lankan Navy was a matter of concern.
NEF Chairman M Ilango in a letter to Wickremesinghe, now on a three-day visit to India, said the forum was ‘grateful’ to him for releasing the 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested on September 1 for allegedly entering the island nation waters.
The fishermen were released ‘in a goodwill gesture’ ahead of Wickremesinghe’s visit to the country.
Ilango said NFF extended a warm welcome to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister.
He noted that it was however a matter of concern that Indian fishermen were constantly facing “agonising experience and several hardships” at the hands of the Lankan naval personnel.
The current visit of Wickremesinghe should augur well for the fishermen of two countries, he said urging for release of 34 boats belonging to the Indian fishermen.
2015 The Statesman Limited