After Attack, Fisherman Fears to Return to Sea

NAGERCOIL: In a recollection of the events of February 15, when Italian marines on the oil tanker Enrica Lexie allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala, one of the other fishermen who was onboard the fishing vessel, St Antony, that came under attack tells Express what happened.Kilary (48) and most of the 13 fishermen who were onboard the motorboat during the incident, including one of the two killed, Ajish Pingo (19), belong to Erayumthurai hamlet in Kanyakumari. The other deceased fisherman, Valentine Jalastine (45), lived in Kollam, Kerala.“After hauling up our catch, we were returning to the shore when the shooting happened around 4.30 pm,” recalls Kilary. “Except Jalastine — who was at the helm of the boat — and Pingo, all of us were inside the cabin resting. Pingo was attending nature’s call at the back of the boat. Our boat was nowhere close to or on the path of the Italian ship,” he says. “Hearing the gunshots, the owner of the fishing boat asked us to lie flat on the floor. When we rose after some time, we found Pingo and Jalastine dead,” Kilary says of the turn of events. Kilary, who has been engaged in deep-sea fishing for over 30 years, is traumatised  and has not been able to venture out to sea since. “Usually, ships sound a siren if they sight fishing boats close to them. But we did not hear any siren sounding or any warning message before the men on the ship opened fire,” he says. “This is the first such incident in the 30 years I have been going out to sea, and now I am afraid of heading out into the deep waters,” a shaken Kilary says.Fr Churchil of the South Asian Fishermen Fraternity, who has taken up the case on behalf of Pingo’s two sisters, speaks up on the plight of fishermen. “We are disappointed over the manner in which the Kerala government is treating the two Italians arrested for shooting our innocent fisherman. As per international law, they are criminals. Treating the men like guests is unacceptable.”Observing the stark difference in the way the Italian marines are being treated, when compared to the little or no help fishermen detained by Sri Lanka receive, Fr Churchil says, “To give hope to the arrested men, the Italian external affairs minister arrived here immediately. Lots of our fishermen are languishing in jails at Lanka and in many other countries but Centre is not making efforts to get them back,” he points out.