Fishermen in the Indian town of Karaikal in Puducherry district have decided to go on an indefinite strike starting 04 April, demanding the release of arrested fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, Indian media reported.According to The Hindu, the Karaikal fishermen have also threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Reportedly, Puducherrys Civil Supplies Minister A.
K.
Sai J.
Saravanan Kumar has held talks with the fishermen on Friday (29) but was unable to persuade the fishermen to withdraw their decision.Unless they release our fishermen we will not vote in the elections, said Gajendran Kaliyaperumal, a village head from Kilinjalmedu was quoted as saying.Earlier, the Sri Lankan Navy took away our boats and released our fishermen.
Now they are jailing the driver of the boat for six months as well.
Nearly 30 fishermen from here are in Sri Lankas custody.
Which would translate to 30 families and 300 relatives.
How can we participate in voting when one of us is rotting there? he has said further.According to the village head, as many as 13,000 fishermen and women will be actively taking part in the said strike.--with inputs from The Hindu