BJP is determined to retrieve Katchatheevu: Annamalai

The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is determined to retrieve Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, K. Annamalai, State president of the party, said near Palladam in Tiruppur district on Sunday.

Mr. Annamalai, who is campaigning for the Lok Sabha election, told journalists that retrieving Katchatheevu was the only permanent solution to the problems faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen.

The Tamil Nadu BJP submitted this demand to External Affairs S. Jaishankar about a year ago. It has now released classified documents relating to how India ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in a public forum.

He alleged that the boundary of India shrunk because of Congress.

There was no problem related to Katchatheevu until 1948, as the King of Ramanathapuram had the rights to It. After Sri Lanka became independent, it started slowly claiming that Katchatheevu was its territory.

He said the then Congress government in India failed to take a firm decision soon, prolonging the issue until it finally ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka.

Further, before the Emergency, Article 6, which gave permission for Indian fishermen to use Katchatheevu, was removed stealthily, claimed Mr. Annamalai.

Retrieving Katchatheevu was not just a demand or request of the Tamil Nadu BJP. He said it was determined to do this to resolve the issues faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen.