"DMK has always given away rights of people of Tamil Nadu": AIADMK on Katchatheevu row

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 1 : Weighing in on the Katchatheevu issue after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader J Jayavardhan on Monday also launched an attack on the DMK, saying that MK Stalin-led party, in collusion with Congress, has always made sure that what is the part of India, should be "given away" to Sri Lanka.
J Jayavardhan, AIADMK South Chennai Lok Sabha candidate, while speaking to ANI said that his party has always stood for the rights of the people of the state.
"It has always been the stance of the AIADMK with regards to Katchatheevu, DMK always has given away the rights of the people of Tamil Nadu... Whether it is the Supreme Court or through political ways, we have always stood for the rights of the people. But DMK, in collusion with Congress, has always made sure that what is the part of India, should be given away to Sri Lanka," Jayavardhan said.
He, also took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for bringing up the issue on election eve.
"BJP taking this up during election time is just politics," the AIADMK leader added.
Notably, in 2008, then AIADMK supremo, the late J Jayalalitha, filed a petition in court saying Katchatheevu could not be ceded to another country without a constitutional amendment. The petition argued the 1974 agreement had affected the traditional fishing rights and livelihoods of Indian fishermen.
After becoming Chief Minister in 2011, she moved a resolution in the State Assembly and, in 2012, went to the Supreme Court asking her petition be expedited in the wake of increasing arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted the DMK over the Katchatheevu island issue, alleging the ruling party of Tamil Nadu did nothing to safeguard the state's interests.
New details emerging on the issue of India handing over the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka have unmasked the DMK's double standards totally, he said on X, citing a news report that said that then chief minister M. Karunanidhi had given his concurrence to the agreement despite his party's public posturing against the deal.
"Rhetoric aside, DMK has done NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests. New details emerging on #Katchatheevu have UNMASKED the DMK's double standards totally. Congress and DMK are family units. They only care that their own sons and daughters rise. They don't care for anyone else. Their callousness on Katchatheevu has harmed the interests of our poor fishermen and fisherwomen in particular," PM Modi tweeted.
The media report is based on an RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai to his queries on the 1974 agreement between India and Lanka when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.
EAM S Jaishankar also took on the Congress and the DMK for their indifference towards the island.
" In the last 20 years, 6184 Indian fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka and 1175 Indian fishing vessels have been seized, detained or apprehended by Sri Lanka. This is the background of the issue that we are discussing. In the last five years, the Katchatheevu issue and the Fisherman's issue have been repeatedly raised by various parties in the Parliament. It has come up in parliament questions, debates and in the consultative committee. The then CM of Tamil Nadu has written to me numerous times. And my record shows that to the current CM, I have replied 21 times on this issue. This is not an issue which has suddenly surfaced. This is a live issue. It is an issue which has been very much debated in parliament and in the Tamil Nadu circles. It has been the subject of correspondence between the union government and the state government," the EAM said
"The fishermen are still being detained today, boats still being apprehended & the issue is still being raised in Parliament. It is being raised in Parliament by two parties who did it...Whenever there was an arrest, how do you think they were released? It is very good to give statements from Chennai, but the people who do the work are us," he added.