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Anger spreads across TN over fisherman killing
CHENNAI/NAGAPATTINAM: Anger spread throughout coastal Tamil Nadu with fishermen and activists protesting the brutal killing of N Jayakumar by the Sri Lankan navy on Saturday night. In most of the coastal districts fishermen stayed away from sea.
In Chennai, police rounded up a group of about 150 members of the Hindu Makkal Katchi as they tried to picket the residence of Union minister P Chidambaram, demanding security for fishermen. The outfit's organising secretary T Kannan said fishermen should be given weapons for self defence. Political outfits too jumped into the fray to protest the killings of two fishermen within a fortnight.
Thol Tirumavalavan's Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi, a DMK ally, has threatened an agitation in front of the office of the Sri Lankan deputy high commission in Chennai. Tamil film director Seeman, who heads Naam Tamilar Katchi, warned that his party would not allow the Sri Lankan cricket players to play in a match scheduled for Tuesday in the city.
Striking fishermen demanded that the Indian government give an assurance for their safety rather than solatium. "We need the government ofIndia to protect our lives," said R M P Rajendran Nattar, a leader of the fishermen community in Nagapattinam. Several policemen were posted in Pushpavanam village from where the victim hailed, to prevent further escalation of tension in the region.
In Coimbatore, a section of lawyers along with activists set fire to posters carrying pictures of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and chief minister M Karunanidhi outside the main gate of the district court. The protesters demanded immediate closure of the Sri Lankan deputy high commission in Chennai. They also flayed the state and central governments for their "apathy' against such incidents.
In Madurai, the coastal people's federation said all the coastal fishing villages in Tuticorin and Tiruchendur in south Tamil Nadu will observe Republic Day as a black day.
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