It's just a 285.20 acre of island which was ceded away to Sri Lanka in 1974 by Indira Gandhi sparking off a controversy.



The island is filling the waters around it with the blood of Indian fishermen. Katchatheevu, which is just fourteen nautical miles away from Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, has been in the eye of the storm with killings of Indian fishermen going near the island for better fish cash.

We travelled from Rameshwaram to Katchatheevu in a speed boat amidst flaring controversy and constant attacks on Indian fishermen. The island looked peaceful from 0.5 nautical miles away. But not always. On April 2, 2011, India had a historic win against Sri Lanka in World Cup cricket. On the same night John Paul and three others set out for fishing from Rameshwaram. For the next few days while India was celebrating, Jenitha and relatives of other fishermen were sunk in sorrow. The bodies of four fishermen were found. They were allegedly beaten to death near Katchatheevu by the Sri Lankan navy to seek vengeance on cricket victory. At least this is what twenty-six year old Jenitha, who is struggling with her four children, believes. So does every fisherman and Tamil party in Tamil Nadu. Jenitha and her children can never get over the death of John in the fishing hamlet of Rameshwaram.



It's been two years. Still her children come back home from school asking for their father. "What can I tell them ? Why should Sri Lankan navy do this," asks Jenitha. Almost every woman in the fishing families of Rameshwaram lives in fear, agony and pain. Inventa is hoping that her twenty-four-year old son Selva Langlet Loyola will one day come back alive from Sri Lanka. He and four other fishermen were captured by the Sri Lankan navy for smuggling. But fishermen in Rameshwaram believe the five were innocent.



Langlet's foster father says government will not support a smuggler. K S Rayappan, says "Tamil Nadu government is helping only because our children didn't commit any crime. A special team from Tamil Nadu government came here and enquired. After collecting the details they appointed a lawyer to fight for my son. Jayalalithaa amma has given Rs two lakh and Rs seven thousand per month. Will she give this grant if my son has committed any mistake." So far four hundred and fifty fishermen have been killed and thousands injured. As many as fifty six are languishing in Sri Lankan prisons.



In 1980's when LTTE was active in Sri Lanka, Katchatheevu was used as the trading post for smuggling fuel and other equipment. Indian fishermen were helping LTTE. Until the end of war in Sri Lanka, navy restricted its patrolling near Katchatheevu. However after Sri Lankan fishermen came out for fishing near Katchatheevu, patrolling increased. Indian fishermen are also to be blamed for the continuing attacks. Former Regional Commander Coast Guard Region East, Commodore Seshadri Vasan feels pair trawling and speed boats of Indian fishermen are destroying nets of Sri Lankan fishermen. So they complain to navy who in turn attack Indian fishermen.



Though Katchatheevu haunts Rameshwaram fishermen, they end up going there. Fishermen say that waters around it are rich in fish. "Our waters hardly have fish. So we have to go there as we have been traditionally for years," says N J Bose, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu coastal mechanized boats fishermen association. Also the island is just two nautical miles away from the international maritime boundary line. "We have been fishing there for ages. We do get confused crossing the imbl," says Bose.



Only if Indian leaders had been careful while giving the island which belonged to Ramnad kingdom. In 1974, Katchatheevu was given away to Sri Lanka through an agreement. However, it allowed Indian fishermen to have free access to Katchatheevu. But then the laws of International maritime boundary line and another agreement in 1976 took away the rights. Former Judge and expert on Katchatheevu feels that these agreements were marred by confusion. The Tamil Nadu politicians are clinging on to these documents for blaming the Centre. Both Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Miss J. Jayalalithaa and DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi want these agreements to be cancelled as it was not ratified by the parliament. They want the island to be retrieved. While politicians in Tamil Nadu managed to prevent Manmohan Singh from attending CHOGM in Colombo citing attacks on fishermen as one of the reasons, fishermen in Rameshwaram wanted the PM to attend it. "How else will we talk about the issue. Our Prime Minister should have gone there to talk about our issue. It's an opportunity to put forth our issue before other countries. Tamil Nadu politicians are just interested in playing politics. They are not worried about us," says N J Bose boldly.



Rameshwaram fishermen are eagerly awaiting for the meeting with the Sri Lankan fishermen which could probably bring in some solution.



For India it's a vexing bilateral issue which could not be resolved despite many rounds of talks. To add to the woes India now needs to be worried about Chinese presence in Katchatheevu. Sources in the Intelligence Bureau say that Chinese are helping Sri Lankan navy in patrolling around Palk Strait near Katchatheevu. For peaceful bilateral ties and welfare of fishermen, India should push for solution.