This is important because he is to be seen as a sure winner before criss-crossing the state to campaign for candidates of the party or an alliance, highlights N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 19 Indian fishermen, who were reported missing since May 5 after heading out to sea from Thangachimadam near Rameswaram, have been taken into custody by Sri Lankan naval personnel, according to the coastal security police.
'Jail was very crowded, we were 56 people crammed together. All 56 of us had to use only one toilet'
At least 60 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy personnel while fishing near Katchatheevu on Thursday, an official from fishermen association said.
'During Congress rule, the government used to get both the fishermen and the boats released whenever the Sri Lankan navy apprehended them.' 'Under BJP rule, only the fishermen are being released.'
Four more fishermen were on Thursday allegedly taken into custody by Sri Lankan Navy for fishing near Katchatheevu, the second such incident in as many days.
Certain media reports had recently claimed that on Sunday, a Sri Lankan Navy ship had rammed into an Indian fishing vessel, sinking it. This kind of false information may have been spread by Tamil nationalists, who on one hand are trying to defame the Lankan Navy and on the other, are publicly defending Rajiv Gandhi's assassins.
Barely weeks before he turned 22, a young fisherman was shot, allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy.
The protesting fishermen have refused to accept the body of the fisherman unless a central minister visits the island and gives them an assurance that such incidents would not happen again, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President S Emiret said.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com meets the shattered families of the five Tamil fishermen sentenced to death by a Sri Lankan court for alleged drug smuggling. Most feel the men are being made an example of to scare off other fishermen from straying into Sri Lankan waters.
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