Chennai:
Tamilga Vatri Kazgam (TVK) head and actor Vijay has called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to claim India’s sovereignty on the Katchavu Island of his visit to Sri Lanka today.
The actor-royalty proposed a 99-year lease of the island as an interim solution, emphasizing that complete recovery is the only permanent resolution for the decades of fishermen crisis.
Vijay called the DMK’s recent assembly resolution of the ruling DMK and the BJP-led Center to rebuild Katchathevu- urged the Center to reap the island-a “political drama” ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Poll. He alleged that DMK, who was in power in 1974, was responsible for the transfer of the island in Sri Lanka.
The TV leader also accused the Tamil Nadu fishermen of discriminating against the Tamil Nadu fishermen, given that their counterparts from Gujarat and other states get security, Tamil fishermen faced arrests and seizures by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin gained momentum on the demand for Kachathevu after writing to PM Modi on Friday. Mr. Stalin reviewed the 1974 Indo -Lankan Treaty and urged PM Modi to secure the release of fishermen in the jail as a goodwill gesture during his visit to Sri Lanka – those demands which were also included in the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
The 1.9 sq km island is located at a distance of 12 miles from Kachthevu, Rumsavarm.
Experts say that the fish population in the area has decreased, putting Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu at a distance of 22 knots in the Sri Lankan region, beyond the island, beyond the island, beyond the island. Experts have warned that even though Kachthevu is recovering, things will not change to a great extent, it will legally give Indian fishermen a slightly larger area for fish.
AIADMK and BJP have also dismissed Mr. Stalin’s resolve as “election theaterics” and, with PM Modi’s Sri Lanka’s hour -long journey, experts are waiting to see if PM Modi will focus on Tamil Nadu’s demand.