The Hindu : Kerala News : Accept the offer but step up vigilance

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Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
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Kerala

Accept the offer but step up vigilance

The National Fishworkers’ Forum, a federation of fish workers’ organisations in the country, has offered the services of its members to keep an eye on the coastal waters and alert the authorities to suspicious developments.
Do you think it will work? If not, what other suggestions do you have for monitoring the long coastline of the country? Our readers respond:

Good offer

The offer by the National Fishermen’s Forum to guard coastal areas from any intruders is welcome. The modus operandi of the terrorists in the recent Mumbai attacks suggests that the nation take help from the local fishermen community to guard its coastline. Since it’s a voluntary offer, it should be accepted whole-heartedly. Since local fishermen wear dresses that are specific to their region, they will not draw much attention as the people in uniform do. Hence, catching terrorists will be an easier task than with official logistics. Fishermen are there in the sea all through the day and night and are locally networked with mobile phones. They could be offered free ration during hard times for the jobs they undertake. Modern equipment for coastal surveillance can be provided to them on a random basis. These people have practical knowledge of the sea around them and are trained to meet any situation. There were many instances in which local fishermen were instrumental in confiscating foreign elements. The best example is Kunhali Marakkar.

P.K.Jayanandan

Kozhikode

Equip them

Despite constant vigil and surveillance by law enforcement agencies the country is subjected to terror onslaughts at regular intervals. The perpetrators crossed the sea, without giving any trail to the Indian Navy and the local police, to carry out the recent Mumbai operations. As the fisher folk are familiar with the geography of the coastal belt, they can render yeoman service, provided they are equipped with modern devices to notice and report any development in their areas. Coastal police aid-post will be of much help to assist forum workers for swift actions. As the Central government has agreed to allocate funds for coastal security, paucity of funds will not be a hindrance in buying even modern vessels and interceptor boats to carry out day-and-night vigil. They must be trained properly for successful performance and hassle-free operation and to achieve desired results.

P. Rajan

Thalassery

Welcome offer

It is a welcome step that the National Fish Workers’ Forum has offered its help in monitoring the coastal areas. At the same time, this alone is not enough because fishermen have their own limitations in approaching the authorities as the present system of our State is, “If the thief is not caught, the man who is caught is the thief”. This is very important after the Mumbai terrorist attacks, whose perpetrators came via the Arabian Sea from Pakistan. As we have a vast coastal area to be covered, we should guard the areas with all our resources such as our Navy and fishermen. Sufficient number of guards should be deployed around these places as terrorists are trying to launch attacks through these areas, especially those from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. As fishermen are the people periodically going into the sea, their association’s help in informing the authorities about terrorists or suspicious activities is always welcome.

P. Sankaranarayanan

Petta

Deploy the Navy

Why shouldn’t we accept the fishermen’s offer and why should we doubt whether it will work or not? If all the members of these associations are ready to inform the authorities on suspicious activities in the coastal waters, it is all for the good, because with their help the Coast Guard or the Navy can do much. We can see from Sri Lanka that the LTTE gets support from the Tamil group of fishermen in and around Sri Lanka and South India and that is the reason it is successful in the sea waters.

In addition to the fishermen’s help, we should do our best to prevent attacks by terrorists and pirates with the help of our Navy.

Sreelakshmi Sankar

Poonithura

Proactive partners

When we do not have enough force to guard the long stretches of coastline, we should utilise the voluntary service offered by the National Fishworkers’ Forum. The fish workers can act as instantaneous informers and even proactive partners in policing the coastal belt. It should be modelled as a sort of community policing . K. Rajasekharan

Thrissur

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