Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday blasted the Congress party for giving away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka. Citing a report based on an RTI reply, he said the Congress "callously gave away Katchatheevu". "This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds- we can't ever trust Congress," he said on X.
Katchatheevu belonged to India till 1974, and it is just 25 km from the Indian coast in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP, which is trying to expand its reach in the southern states, is hopeful that the issue will come in handy to its efforts to gain political traction in Tamil Nadu as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls.
The report is based on an RTI reply Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai received on the decision of the then Indira Gandhi government in 1974 to hand over the territory in Palk Strait to Sri Lanka. Modi said, "Weakening India's unity, integrity, and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting."
The report cites first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's comments on the issue, a source of dispute between India and Lanka, that he would have no hesitation in giving up claims on the island.
How India gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka
The decision to hand over Katchatheevu was conveyed to then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi by then foreign secretary Kewal Singh in June 1974. Singh had mentioned the zamindari rights of the Raja of Ramnad (Ramanathapuram) and the failure of Sri Lanka to show evidence to prove its claim of holding Katchatheevu. However, the foreign secretary also said that Sri Lanka had a "very determined position" on Katchatheevu and cited "records" showing the key island to be a part of the kingdom of Jaffnapatnam, Dutch and British maps, The Times of India reported.
The then foreign secretary added that Sri Lanka, called Ceylon during that pre-independence period, had been staking its sovereignty over Katchatheevu since 1925 without protests from India. He cited a second opinion of 1970 by attorney MC Setalvad, who had said that Katchatheevu "was and is with Sri Lanka and not India".
The zamindari rights for maintaining Katchatheevu and its fisheries were given to the Raja of Ramnad by the British East India Company. This continued from 1875 to 1948 and was vested in the State of Madras following the abolition of zamindari rights. However, the Raja of Ramnad continued to exercise his zamindari rights independently, without having to pay taxes to Sri Lanka.
India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on May 10, 1961, dismissed the island issue as "inconsequential". Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) joint secretary (law and treaties) K Krishna Rao contended that India had a good legal case and that could be leveraged for securing fishing rights on the island, according to the RTI.
Handing over Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka has impacted Indian fishermen, mostly from Tamil Nadu, who often get detained by the Sri Lankan Navy. Katchatheevu has become a significant issue during Tamil Nadu's Lok Sabha campaigns.
Indian fishermen caught by Sri Lankan authorities
BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi on Sunday hit out at Congress and the DMK, saying the Indian fishermen caught by Sri Lankan authorities were lodged in jail and faced authorities but these parties did not raise the issue. "Earlier, Indian fishermen used to go there but during the reign of Indira Gandhi, the then government handed it over to Sri Lanka," he said in a press conference.
In that agreement, he said, it was also said that no Indian fisherman could go there. "Due of this, many fishermen have been caught and lodged in jail and faced atrocities. Neither, the DMK nor the Congress have raised the issue," he said.
Annamalai: Betrayal of Congress and DMK Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai said this was the first part of the chronology of the "betrayal of Congress and DMK". He said: "Both these parties chose to align with Sri Lankan interests, handed over Katchatheevu on a silver platter, and put to risk the lives and livelihood of our Tamil fishermen...DMK and Congress are answerable for the loss of innumerable lives of our Tamil Fishermen."