Coming soon, a book on the 'lost' Katchatheevu

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/coming-soon-a-book-on-the-lost-katchatheevu/300835.html

By G Saravanan
Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on August 4, 2011:


CHENNAI: With a view to dispel myths that had surrounded the ceding of Indian territory Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in 1974 and how to retrieve the island, the Tamil Nadu-based Katchatheevu Retrieval Movement is publishing a book with extensive details about the misinterpretations in the agreements reached between the two countries that time.

Titled Katchatheevu — The Betrayed Indian Territory, the 80-page book, which is being published in English, is all set to kick off a storm in the political circles, as the Centre for years misguided the Tamil Nadu fishermen by clubbing two distinctive agreements with Lanka, said Seethayin Mainthan, author of the book.
BJP’s senior leader Sushma Swaraj will soon release the book and a DVD about Katcha­theevu in New Delhi in a couple of weeks.
According to the author of the book, the island of Katchatheevu, which belonged to Tamils and TN, was ceded to Lanka in 1974, by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, overlooking constitutional provisions.
The very objective of bringing the book in English is to unravel the truth behind the ceding and double standards of Lanka to all Indian fishermen, he said.
Though it is believed that the TN fishermen illegally move into the Lankan waters near Katchatheevu for fishing, the reality is, under the 1974 accord, both country shall have control over the waters and the island, he said.