Kochi: Sri Lanka has slighted Tamil super star Vijay’s demand to seize Kachathheevu from Sri Lanka putting the Congress in soup as it was during Congress rule India lost it to Sri Lanka.
The Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay’s demand will not only spike his party’s popularity, but it will also arm the BJP to target Congress.
Addressing a state meeting at Madurai the other day, Vijay accused Sri Lanka of harassing Tamil fishermen due to Sri Lanka’s control over Kachatheevu.
Responding to Vijay’s demands,
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath dismissed it as mere ‘election-time rhetoric’.
While the issue will open a tsunami of problems for the Congress, it will equally hit the DMK which is an ally of the Congress during the Assembly elections.
Late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had in 2011 challenged the agreements signed between India and Sri Lanka in 1974 and 1976 leading to India losing control over Katchatheevu.
The Supreme Court had allowed DMK leader T R Baalu in lieu of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi who had impleaded in the case.
The Congress-led union government in 2013 argued in the Supreme Court that no territory belonging to Indian sovereignty was ceded to Sri Lanka.
Katchatheevu is a strip of land of about 1.9 sq km located in the Palk Strait which divides India and Sri Lanka. It lies to the northeast to Rameswaram in India and to the southwest of Sri Lanka.
The island has no source of drinking water and the only structure on it is a church which holds an annual festival attended by faithfuls from both countries.
The dispute over the island, which persisted since 1921 over fishing rights, ended in 1974 when India relinquished any claim over it.
Two years later, the two countries signed an agreement that prevented people from both countries from fishing in waters belonging to each other, BBC said.
The Supreme Court has court scheduled the case for final hearing on September 15, 2025.
Photo: Tamil Heritage
