Fact-Check: Sri Lankan Army Has Fired at Tamil Fishermen in the Last 10 Years

There are several recorded instances of the Sri Lankan defence forces firing at Indian fishermen.

A post alleging that there have been no incidents of the Sri Lankan army firing at Tamil fishermen over the past 10 years has garnered over 30,000 views on X (formerly Twitter).

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is this true? This claim is false.

• There have been several incidents of the Sri Lankan army firing at Tamil fishermen, which have also been acknowledged by both the Central and the Tamil Nadu governments.

What we found:

• First, a keyword search directed us to news articles from several credible sources reporting incidents of Tamil fishermen being fired upon by the Sri Lankan army.

• As recently as 1 August 2024, Tamil fishermen have been killed in a Sri Lanka navy strike. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed grief over the death of one Malaisamy, criticising the Union government for not taking action.

• In February 2020, a fisherman named Jesu was injured when Sri Lankan forces fired at his boat, leading to his hospitalisation. This attack had come only a week after Sri Lankan leaders met with PM Narendra Modi to discuss the issue.

• In March 2017, a 22-year-old Indian fisherman was shot dead by the Sri Lankan navy while fishing, sparking protests in Tamil Nadu. DMK leader MK Stalin urged the Central government to take strong action against the ongoing attacks on Tamil fishermen.

• These are just a few of the reports regarding the Sri Lankan army firing at Tamil fishermen.

Secondly, we located the Ministry of External Affairs' responses to questions regarding Sri Lankan army firings.

• Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, a Tamil politician, raised a question (No. 1201) in the Rajya Sabha regarding the issue of Indian fishermen being killed by the Sri Lankan Navy. In response, on 11 February 2021, the Ministry of External Affairs officially acknowledged an incident in which four Indian fishermen were killed following a collision with a Sri Lankan naval craft.

• Members of Parliament (MPs) S Selvakumara Chinnayan and Anbumani Ramadoss raised a question (No. 3865) in the Lok Sabha concerning the killing of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

• In response, on 9 August 2017, the Ministry of External Affairs acknowledged an incident on 6 March 2017, where an Indian fisherman named Britjo was killed and another injured by Sri Lankan Navy firing.

A statement regarding the killing of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy was made by the late Sushma Swaraj, the Minister of External Affairs, in Parliament.

She addressed the House regarding the incident that occurred on 6 March 2017 - acknowledging that a fishing vessel was fired upon by the Sri Lankan Navy, resulting in one death and one injury.

Conclusion: This claim is false, there have been several incidents of firing from the Sri Lankan army at Tamil fishermen in the last 10 years.

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