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Tamil fishermen’s plight captured in a Mullaithivu sea incident

The other fisherman was hit by the Sri Lankan Navy fire and he died while swimming. His co-worker, already injured, struggled to drag the dead fishermen’s body to the shore. Once on shore, the villagers took the injured fishermen to the Mullaithivu hospital, where he is in stable condition.

The two fishermen worked for and used the equipment belonging to Thavarasa. Thavarasa also used to be a fisherman. He lost one of his legs in a Sri Lankan Navy attack in 1990 while he was out fishing. He is unable to go fishing since then. All his fishing equipment was also lost in this attack.

Like all fishermen from Mullaithivu he also lost everything in the 2004 tsunami. Thavarasa rebuilt his equipment with the help of NGOs. All of this has now been destroyed again by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The dead fisherman, Ariveeran Muruhappan aged 65 is from Udappai and like the many of Tamils has a temporary residence elsewhere. He was living in Selvapuram. The injured fisherman, Veerapathran Nagarasa aged 49, is from Selvapuram and is the father of six young children.

This incident in the Mullaithivu sea on Sunday night and the history of the three affected fishermen captures the fate of the Tamil fishing community at the hands of the Sri Lankan Navy during the last two decades.

31 October 2006

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