Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

“Safeguard your rights, livelihood”

NAGAPATTINAM: As the fourth anniversary of the tsunami comes around, fisherfolk should not treat it just as a sad day, but use it to mobilise themselves politically, activists said at a meeting here on Tuesday.

Speaking at the meeting organised at the Aouri Thidal by the Singaravelar Fishermen’s Movement for Livelihood Rights, Sethu. Ramalingam, a writer, said that there were many problems facing fishermen, including foreign competition and the entry of foreign fishing ships. There were also moves to “chase us away from the seashore,” he said, referring to the Coastal Management Zone (CMZ). In this situation, fishermen should drown themselves in sorrow but should focus on safeguarding their livelihoods and rights, he said.

V. Geetha, writer and activist, and Gandhimathi, Tamil Nadu Fisherwomen’s Association, said that women should fight along with fishermen to protect their livelihood. Attempts to restrict fishermen from living in coastal areas would affect their lives, and this would not even protect the coast from the incursion of terrorist elements, they said.

The meeting asked for immediate scrapping of the CMZ regulations, and restriction of chemical factories, SEZs etc in coastal areas. The participants also asked the government to announce that the seas and seashores were exclusively the domain of fishermen and others who depended on the sea for their livelihood. They asked for an immediate cessation of hostilities by the Sri Lankan Navy and the provision of cheap diesel for fishermen.

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