Centre, state should act to provide security to fishermen: CPI(M)

CPI(M) urged the  Centre and state governments to take immediate action to provide security to fishermen setting out to sea from Kerala shores.

In a statement here, CPI(M) Kerala unit secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the incident in which a ship hit a fishing boat resulting in the death of two fishermen pointed to the "insecurity" faced by those going to sea for fishing.

He said the incident happened before people living in coastal areas could recover from the shock of the death of two fishermen in firing by Italian naval securitymen two weeks back.

The boat was hit by the ship only 13 nautical miles off the Indian coast, which clearly showed that the vessel had violated international norms. Immediate action should be taken to get the vessel into custody.

The Centre should introduce controls over vessels crossing through Indian seas and for this administrative decision should be taken. He wanted the urgent intervention of the Defence and External affairs ministry in this regard.