Fishermen of Thazhanguda in Cuddalore who were beaten up by navy personnel

Thirty fishermen belonging to Thazhanguda coastal village in Cuddalore on Wednesday alleged that they were assaulted by Indian Navy personnel.

B. Sakthi and P. Gopi told The Hindu that the fishermen had set out in 10 fibre boats from Thazhanguda. At about 12 nautical miles off the coast, they cast their nets.

Suddenly, they noticed a patrolling naval ship pulling up at that point. A three-member naval team, armed with cricket stumps, got on to an inflatable boat and approached the fishermen, demanding their identity cards.

Mr. Sakthi said that since no agency had issued them ID cards they could not produce any. The Navy personnel started beating up the fishermen with the stumps and gave no reason for their action when asked.

The fishermen abandoned their fishing nets, along with the catch, all worth Rs.15 lakh, and returned to the shore.

Mr. Gopi said the Navy personnel warned them that if they were seen in the waters on their return from Nagapattinam, where they were heading then, they would take stringent action against the fishermen.

After the incident, the fishermen scattered in different directions. Those injured in the attack included Dhanavelu, Murugan, Thennarasu and S. Krishna, a 13-year-old student, who had accompanied his father in a boat.

Mr. Gopi further said that on Wednesday the naval ship was found anchored five km off the coast. Hence, none of the fishermen ventured into the sea. He said such arbitrary action affected their livelihood.

State president of the Meenavar Padhukappu Iyakkam M. Kuppuraj said that hitherto Tamil Nadu fishermen used to be the target of the Sri Lankan navy, but now the Indian Navy was targeting them. He said the fishermen were used to going up to 100 km for fishing but the proposed legislation to curtail their movement within 12 nautical miles would severely affect their livelihood.

The Iyakkam was trying to stall the passage of the proposed legislation in Parliament, Mr. Kuppuraj said.

State general secretary of the Iyakkam Selva Ezhumalai said that his organisation would take up the issue with the district administration on Thursday.

“Exceeded distance limit”
Superintendent of Police Ashwin M. Kotnis said that the fishermen had gone up to 20 nautical miles, while the permitted distance was 12 nautical miles. A total of 20 fibre boats had violated the rules and the fishermen were reportedly chased away by the naval personnel. He would take up the allegation that they were beaten up with the naval detachment stationed in Puducherry.

The SP said fishermen were expected to carry identity cards, which would save them from such hassles.

When contacted, Collector P. Seetharaman said that the process of creating the National Population Register had begun in the coastal villages. This was being done jointly by Central and State governments. A total of 12 coastal villages had been identified — nine in Cuddalore division and three in Chidambaram division.

In the Cuddalore division, there were 32,850 fishermen and in Chidambaram, 10,548 fishermen aged above 15 years. So far, 26,196 fishermen (75 per cent) were covered in Cuddalore and 4,973 (40 per cent) in Chidambaram.

A database had been created and soon bio-metric cards, incorporating the fishermen’s fingerprints and photographs, would be issued. The cut-off date for issuing the ID cards for the Cuddalore division was Thursday, and for Chidambaram division, December 7.

The Collector said that fishermen could provide the intelligence input about the possible movement of strangers in the coastal areas. In the current threat perception they had a vital role to play to secure the coastline. He too would take up the issue of beating up of fishermen with the naval authorities.

The Collector further said that none of the fishermen carried the registration certificates for the boats, the diesel passbooks (that entitle them to get diesel at subsidised price) and identity cards issued by the Assistant Director of Fisheries Department.