Puducherry:
The National Fish Workers Forum today appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene immediately and ensure diplomatic steps to bring an end to the attacks on Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan navy.
Assaults on fishermen of Nagapattinam and Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry and seizure of their fishing vessels by Sri Lankan navy were occurring frequently, General Secretary of the Forum, M Ilango said in a letter to Singh, copy of which was distributed to media.
More than 100 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Karaikal were in jails in Sri Lanka, he said.
Condemning the attacks, he said it was the duty of the Centre to protect the Indian fishermen.
He also wanted to convene a dialogue between the fishermen of Tamil Nadu and their counterparts in the island nation in the presence of authorities to bring a permanent end to the attacks.