We want Katchatheevu back, says TN Minister, as ally Cong justifies ceding

Chennai, Apr 2 (PTI) Disagreeing with ally Congress on the gains from the Wadge Bank, an area south of Kanyakumari providing deep-sea fishing grounds, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Reghupathy on Wednesday said the state government wanted back the Katchatheevu islet ceded to Sri Lanka as per the 1974 accord.

Wadge Bank, located near Cape Comorin, is a resource-rich continental shelf, and it falls within India's exclusive economic zone as per the 1976 Indo-Sri Lanka agreement on the maritime boundary.

"We should not see Katchatheevu as an isolated case. We got the resource-rich Wadge Bank from Sri Lanka in return. We should see both the 1974 and 1976 agreements, and understand that we gained from the Wadge Bank," TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai told reporters here.

Selvaperunthagai, who earlier backed the state government resolution in the Assembly piloted by Chief Minister M K Stalin on retrieving Katchatheevu, however, denied any change in his party's stand.

Asked if he was supporting the retrieval of the islet with an eye on the 2026 Assembly poll, the Congress leader replied "don't see one agreement. See both the agreements. Even now, it is correct. We didn't change our stand for polls. Retrieving the island is our duty but former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not make any mistake on this issue." He further said that Katchatheevu was only 285-acres area bereft of water, but the former prime minister, in return, obtained several lakh acres of land through Wadge Bank for the country.

When reporters sought for his comments, Minister Reghupathy wondered about the gains from the Wadge Bank. "He (Selvaperunthagai) says we gained. It is 50 km from Kanyakumari and about 80 nautical miles from Sri Lanka. It's of no use. We can't say we gained out it," Reghupathy said.

"Linking it with Katchatheevu is unacceptable. We want our place back. That's all," Reghupathy categorically said.

He claimed that the islet was ceded against the wishes of the people and without consulting the Tamil Nadu government then, which was wrong. "It's a loss for Tamils. Our demand is it should be got back," the minister said.

Meanwhile, BJP state chief K Annamalai flayed the ruling DMK dispensation over the unanimous resolution passed in the Assembly and claimed it was passed when law and order in the state was in shambles.

"At a time when Tamil Nadu is experiencing an unprecedented period of darkness, TN CM Thiru @mkstalin avl continues to enact a new drama every day. Today’s drama is the resolution to reclaim Katchatheevu," Annamalai said in a post on the social media platform 'X'.

In the House, the BJP and its ally, the PMK, joined the principal opposition AIADMK in endorsing the resolution. PTI JSP KH

Source: PTI