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Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said on Friday that his country would not leave the island of Kachthivu at any cost. He described the debate on this issue in India as a case between the political parties here.
Herath said- We have diplomatic avenues open to resolve this issue, but according to international law, Kachchathivu island is part of Sri Lanka and we will never leave it.
Herath has accused Indian fishermen of entering the Sri Lankan maritime border near the Kachchathivu island. He said that Indian fishermen are not only looting resources here, but are also harming sea plants.
The statement came amid a dispute between India and Sri Lanka about the arrest of fishermen. Fishermen of India and Sri Lanka often accidentally enter each other’s water area, due to which they are arrested. This issue has been a long -standing dispute between the two countries.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said that Kachchathivu island is part of his country. The ongoing debate in India is a matter of parties there.
Kachthivu is spread over 285 acres, 19 km from Rameswaram
There is a large sea area between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka in India. This sea region is called Pak Strait. There are many islands here, out of which the name of an island is Kachchathivu.
According to the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry website, Kachchathivu is an island spread over 285 acres. The island connects the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. In 1974, Indira Gandhi’s government gifted the island to Sri Lanka.
The island was formed after a volcanic explosion in the 14th century. Which is about 19 km from Rameswaram and about 16 kilometers from Jaffna district of Sri Lanka.
Robert Pak used to be the British Governor of Madras province from 1755 to 1763. This sea area was named Pak Strait named after Robert Pak.
In 1974, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Srimavo Bhandarnayake signed an agreement on the island of Kachchathivu.
Why did Indira Gandhi assigned Kuthathivu to Sri Lanka?
In the 1980s, India was working on a policy of increasing its influence in South Asia and maintaining peaceful relations with neighboring countries. Eliminating the border dispute with Sri Lanka was part of this plan.
Between 1974 and 1976, the then Indian PM Indira Gandhi and Sri Lanka’s PM Sirimav Bhandarnayake signed four sea water agreements. Under this, India handed over the island to Sri Lanka. Since then Sri Lanka has legally claimed its claim on this island.
The Tamil Nadu government opposed it when the Government of India had compromised with Sri Lanka regarding this island. Then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi wrote a letter to PM Indira Gandhi saying that the island is historically part of the zamindari of the Ramnad Empire.
In such a situation, the Government of India should not give this area to Sri Lanka at any cost. However, under this agreement, Indian fishermen were allowed to kill fish and dry nets here. For this reason, Indian fishermen used to go there, but after 2009 Sri Lanka Navy started arresting Indian fishermen going there.
Why did Tamil Nadu claim on Kachchathivu 15 years after the agreement?
After the agreement, Sri Lanka gradually began to increase control on kuthathiivu. In the 1980s, the Sri Lankan Navy caught the fishermen of Tamil Nadu several times near Kachchathivu, imposing a fine. There were many violent incidents. This led to anger in the fisherman community of Tamil Nadu, and demanded the state government to raise the issue.
In the 1980s, regional parties such as DMK and AIADMK were in power in Tamil Nadu. Both parties made the interests of fishermen a part of their political agenda. The issue of Kuthathivu was linked to Tamil Asmita and the rights of the state.
When Jayalalithaa came to power in 1991, she raised the issue vigorously and pressured the central government to withdraw Kachthithivu. It became a popular political issue, which helped strengthen the vote bank.
In 1991, in 1991, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly demanded to join Kachchathivu once again in India. For this, the state government had passed a resolution.
St. Anthony Church built on the island of Kachthivu
The rawthaivu controversy was handling for 25 years, then why started?
In 1983, a civil war broke out between Tamil and Sinhalese community in Sri Lanka. The Tamil militant organization LTTE was then captured on the northern borders of Sri Lanka. Because of this, the fishermen of Tamil Nadu used to reach this island easily for fishing. In such a situation, the controversy over Kachchathivu came to an end for a few years.
In 2009, the fight between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE was about to end. Earlier in 2008, Jayalalithaa moved the Supreme Court to cancel the Kachchathivu Island agreements between 1974 and 1976.
In such a situation, the Sri Lankan government strengthened the security system on its borders. Whenever the fishermen of Tamil Nadu used to go close to the island to kill fish, Sri Lankan police used to arrest him.
For this reason, people living in the coastal area started demanding to withdraw this island once again. The Sri Lankan government says that there is a shortage of fish and other aquatic organisms in its water area in the sea, affecting the livelihood of their fishermen. In such a situation, they cannot allow fishermen of India to kill fish in this area.
Thousands of Indians go to pray in the church on the kutrathivu even now
Every year in February, thousands of people from Rameswaram go to the St. Anthony Church on the island of Kachchathivu. The church was built 110 years ago by a Tamil Catholic Srinivas Padaiyachi of Tamil Nadu.
In 2016, media reports claimed that the Sri Lanka government is now preparing to demolish the church, but later Foreign Ministry spokesman Vikas Swaroop made it clear that nothing like this would happen.