Protests erupted in Tamil Nadu on Friday against a Sri Lankan court’s sentencing of five Tamil Nadu fishermen to death for alleged drug trafficking.
Effigies of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa were and the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai was laid siege to, reports Deccan Chronicle. Over two hundred demonstrators were arrested said police.
In Rameswaram, the home of many Tamil Nadu fishermen who have faced arrest and detention by the Sri Lankan navy, local fishermen have launched an indefinite strike unless the Indian government appealed the death sentence in a higher court, the paper added. See more here
Protests also took place in Chennai, Kumbakonam and Tuticorin. See video of protests here.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O Paneerselvam has written a letter to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on him to secure the release of the fishermen.
"The Centre should get in touch with Sri Lankan government and pave way for the release of five Indian fishermen sentenced to death,” the DMK leader, M. Karunanidhi was quoted as saying by CNN IBN