Sri Lanka should control 'rogue elements' in Navy: Jaya

Chennai, Nov 16 (PTI) Expressing serious concern over the continued attacks on Indian fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to exert pressure on Colombo to rein in the 'rogue elements' in the island navy. In her fifth letter on the issue to Singh in recent months, Jayalalithaa said the attacks on the state fishermen had caused "great unrest," among the people and they should be construed as attacks on India and treated as a national issue. "I strongly feel that the Government of India should assert itself with the Sri Lankan Government to control the rogue elements in the Sri Lankan Navy who continue to indulge in acts of physical assault on our innocent fishermen," she said. Citing the incident yesterday, she said a fisherman from Rameswaram was 'seriously injured,' when Indian fishing boats were attacked allegedly by the Lankan navy personnel near the International Maritime Boundary off Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974. "The continued occurrence of such incidents of attacks has also created a feeling of insecurity among the fishermen community and despair over the apparent inaction of the Government of India to prevent such attacks despite our repeated requests," she said. The Chief Minister said she had already expressed her apprehension of the "double-standards," adopted by Sri Lanka which, while issuing statements on the need for treating the straying fishermen on a humanitarian basis, "continues to be silent on the attacks launched by its own Navy." "Despite my letters to you and despite your taking up the issue with the Government of Sri Lanka and their stated assurances in this regard, the attacks on our fishermen continue unabated and the situation is worsening day by day," she added.