Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Congress over its decision to hand over the strategic Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in the 1970s, accusing the party of “weakening” the country’s integrity and interests. This came after a Right To Information (RTI) report revealed how the Congress government led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handed over Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974.
Accusing that this is another anti-national act of Congress that has come before the country, he said : “Katchatheevu is an island in Tamil Nadu, off the coast of India, between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu and this island is extremely important from the perspective of national security. When the country became independent, we had this island, and it was an integral part of India but 4-5 decades ago, Congress said that this Island was of no use and cut off a part of Maa Bharti and separated it from India.”
“Eye-opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds – we can’t ever trust Congress! Weakening India’s unity, integrity and interests has been Congress’ way of working for 75 years and counting,” PM Modi wrote on X, while citing a media report”, he added.
Katchatheevu island is where Tamil Nadu’s fishermen in districts like Rameshwaram go since Indian waters are depleted of fish. The fishermen cross the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) to reach the island but get detained by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The report is based on an RTI reply Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai received on the decision of the then Indira Gandhi government in 1974 to hand over the territory in Palk Strait to the neighbouring country.
In June 1974, the decision to hand over Katchatheevu was conveyed to then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi by then foreign secretary Kewal Singh. Singh had mentioned the zamindari rights of the Raja of Ramnad (Ramanathapuram) and the failure of Sri Lanka to show evidence to prove its claim of holding Katchatheevu.
However, the foreign secretary also said that Sri Lanka had a “very determined position” on Katchatheevu and cited “records” showing the key island to be a part of the kingdom of Jaffnapatnam, Dutch and British maps, The Times of India reported.
