தமிழக மீனவர்களின் மீன்பிடி உரிமையை நிலைநாட்ட மத்திய அரசுக்கு உரிய அழுத்தத்தை தமிழக அரசு துணிச்சலுடன் கொடுக்க வேண்டும் #TNFishermen

DMK leader M.K. Stalin called upon the Tamil Nadu government on November 7, 2016, to exert courageous and unrelenting pressure on the Union government to definitively uphold and secure the traditional fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Strait.

Stalin pointed out that coastal fishing communities across Rameswaram, Nagapattinam, Pudukkottai, and Thanjavur lived under constant threat of mid-sea harassment, physical attacks, and unlawful arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy. Scores of mechanized trawlers and motorized boats belonging to impoverished Tamil fishermen had been impounded and left to rot in foreign custody, destroying the economic backbones of coastal villages. Stalin criticized the state administration for confining its response to repetitive, formulaic letters to New Delhi rather than demonstrating political backbone to demand decisive diplomatic action.

The opposition leader emphasized that the Union government has a constitutional duty to protect Indian citizens pursuing their traditional livelihoods in historic fishing waters. Stalin urged the state cabinet to lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi, insist on a permanent bilateral agreement safeguarding fishing rights, and ensure the immediate release of all detained fishermen and their confiscated vessels.