This video by Vox, in their series on Borders, is about the Indo-Sri Lankan fisheries dispute, and has been making the rounds. It needs some
clearing the air. This is a complex issue with multiple narratives, and different
perspectives are needed to understand it:
1. Classic trawler vs small-scale fisher (SSF) struggle
2. Arbitrariness of a boundary (terrestrial jurisprudence approach)
over fluid marine spaces
3. Naval action not for SL
fishers but to protect offshore oil assets
Narrative 1 is the most popular one. But it’s mistakenly
portrayed as an Indian fishers vs Sri Lankan fishers. Similar class based
struggles are seen within India all over, including Rameswaram itself. The
Ramnad district fishers unions themselves oppose the trawlers with full force.
Big struggles there have resulted in several negotiated settlements, but
disputes are frequent. From the 70s onwards, bulk of the trawler loans,
subsidies were given to commercial investors who weren't from traditional
fishing communities. Mostly short term investors who dint have long term
interests in the resource. In due course, few fishing communities also joined.
This commercial class was out of the control of the traditional fishing
governance systems that were in place in Rameswaram among the fisherfolk. That
community institution based regulation system broke down because of this. Power
over regulating fishing activities shifted away from the communities towards
the state, and just became an absolute mess. The state made it an unregulated
anarchy, purely for commercial motives.
Narrative 2: The boundary is problematic. Fishing
communities in Talaimannar side of SL & Rameswaram have long had social and
cultural ties with each other. Thus, there was no concept of boundaries in the
sea. They had other types of regulations among themselves. From 1947 onwards, the island of Katchatheevu was in India. The
seas around that island were traditional fishing grounds of Rameswaram fishers as
well as Mannar fishers. But the 70s treaties
between Indira Gandhi and Bandarnayake introduced this new concept of a boundary to
these communities. The boundary negotiations happened between India and SL with
zero consultations with the actual resource users on either side. This was an absolutely
arbitrary line. Despite this, the Indian govt, remote controlling in New Delhi gifted it to SL during the 70s
negotiations. Hence, the fishing grounds around the island also went to SL.
Numerous efforts at resolution by the local communities have
taken place in Talaimannar and Rameswaram. There's also a St.Antony's church
where the church festival was jointly conducted by both communities as part of
their negotiations. These were their own ways to resolve. Among the agreements
was that traditional fishing grounds are open for non-destructive SSF. Thus,
trawlers not allowed in Mannar, but Indian SSF allowed. But such initiatives
were never followed up seriously by the govts both sides. SL shoots SSF boats
too.
This leads to Narrative 3. The Sri Lankan Navy itself
attacks the Tamil fishers of the Mannar and Jaffna regions. The waters just
north and south of Talaimannar are oil blocks for SL. Northern Tamil fishers face issues, not just from Indian trawlers, but more so from mechanised boats from sinhalese southern SL. This openieng up of northern waters to sinhalese fishers from the south is actively encouraged by the SL govt. That's the biggest reason
for so much navy patrolling there. SL navy presence there is not for
safeguarding rights of tamil fishers of northern Sri Lanka but chiefly to safeguard some of the
oil exploration wells, and Sinhalese fishing interests. Hence, they attack any Indian fishing boat in the area. The
larger political economic oppression in northern SL against Tamils have meant a
double whammy for the Tamil fishers, they are a further marginalised community
within an oppressed Tamil community.
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