Forgotten fishermen of the Palk Strait are caught in the crossfire between the Indian Navy, the Sri Lankan Navy and the Tamil Tigers.
As the experience of Kashmir indicates, borders between states can be extremely dangerous flashpoints. When militancy looms large, the local population suffers disproportionately. At the other end of the Subcontinent from Kashmir, on the narrow Palk Strait splitting India and Sri Lanka, it is the fishermen who are caught in the crossfire.
Largely unknown to the rest of the world, thousands of fishermen from India and Sri Lanka have suffered at the hands of those guarding the sea border. And if it is not the navy or coast guard of either side, it is the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka who are the tormentor.
The Palk Bay waters have always been rich in fish. But to earn a livelihood from this stretch of sea both the Lankan and Indian fishermen have to deal with harassment, arrests, boat seizures, and death. Most often, the charge is of illegal entry into foreign territory, which may later transform itself into allegations of smuggling, and helping terrorists.