With impending parliamentary elections, the ceding of the island of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka by the 1974 India-Sri Lanka Maritime Boundary Agreement and the giving away of fishermen’s rights to fish in and around Kachchatheevu by the 1976 Maritime Boundary Agreement are making headlines. Foreign policy comes under the exclusive domain of the Centre. India’s Sri Lanka policy, however, is intimately linked to Tamil Nadu politics, especially the competitive politics between the DMK and the AIADMK.
Protecting the interests of overseas Tamils had always been a major slogan of all parties in Tamil Nadu. In the Tamil film, Parasakthi, the script of which was written by M Karunanidhi, the hero poses the question, “Why are the waters of the Bay of Bengal salty?”, and answers it himself, “It is because of the tears of the overseas Tamils”.
The small island of Katchatheevu, smaller than the IIT campus in Chennai, is uninhabited and does not have a drop of drinking water. Years ago, it was used by Tamil Nadu fishermen to dry their nets when they were made of cotton. Now, nylon is used, a material that does not require drying. The island has a church dedicated to St Anthony. He is considered to be the guardian of fishermen. The St Anthony’s festival in March-April is attended by fishermen from both countries. There is no visa requirement during this festival.
In the early 1990s, when Katchatheevu became a controversial issue, I made a suggestion. Let us get back the island on lease in perpetuity — Tin Bigha in reverse. It will enable Tamil Nadu fishermen to fish in and around Katchatheevu. Both the DMK and the AIADMK governments accepted my suggestion, but New Delhi did not want to reopen the issue. Kachchatheevu is no longer relevant, the present problems revolve around Tamil Nadu fishermen going deep into Sri Lankan waters and using bottom trawlers.
The state-centric approach to the problems of fishermen ignores the symbiotic relationship between fishermen and the sea. To the fishermen, maritime boundaries are government-made creations. They have been fishing in these waters for centuries, where there are plenty of prawns. The restrictions imposed by the two governments on cross-border movements of the fisher folk have led to strain in bilateral relations, loss of Indian lives and the destruction of fishing crafts.
The present problem’s origin can be traced to the late 1960s when the Government of India introduced bottom trawlers to catch prawns. The long years of ethnic conflict, when fishing was banned in Sri Lankan waters, were a boon to Indian fishermen. The use of bottom trawlers resulted in depletion of marine life in Indian waters, but they began to go deep into Sri Lankan waters. When the conflict ended and Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen began to go to sea to fish, they found Indian trawlers to be their greatest impediment. The Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen observe that if bottom trawling continues unabated, there will be no fish in Sri Lankan waters.
Every crisis provides an opportunity. We can come out of the present quagmire only if we adopt a new imaginative approach. We must convert the contested territory in the Palk Strait into a common heritage. Throughout history, Palk Strait has been a bridge, not a barrier between the Tamils of the two countries. The first step is to encourage the fishermen to resume their dialogue. To do so, India must immediately ban bottom trawlers. It should be highlighted that bottom trawlers are banned in Sri Lanka. Let a Palk Bay Authority be formed, consisting of fisheries experts, fishermen representatives, the navy and the coast guard, and representatives of the two governments. Let the two countries make joint efforts to enrich the marine endowments. Let the Sri Lankan fishermen fish in Palk Bay for three days, let the Indian fishermen fish for three days and let one day be a holiday.
The second step should be to encourage the Tamil fishermen of both countries to form cooperative societies and venture into deep-sea fishing. The major share of the finances and technical advice should be provided by the Government of India. The Indian trawlers, with certain modifications, can be converted into fishing vessels which can assist the mother ship. The Sinhalese have multi-day boats, with their harbour located in Negombo. Why should the Tamils lag?
Years ago, while inaugurating a road between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistaṇ, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: “I can not do anything about the borders, but I can make them irrelevant”. He also added India’s neighbourhood policy should be based on asymmetrical reciprocity.
A story comes to my mind, about a sports event in an Adivasi school in central India. A group of children lined up for a race and when it began, they raṇ as if their lives depended on it. One student was far ahead of the others. He could have won easily, but to everybody’s surprise, he suddenly stopped running. He looked back and told the curious nun, “Sister, all my friends are far behind. Let them catch up. We will win the race together”. A similar win-wiṇ approach should guide India’s neighbourḥood policy.
The writer is the founding director and senior professor (retd), Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Madras
