Indian fishermen getting arrested in Sri Lanka due to pact inked during Emergency: S Jaishankar

Indian Express

11 hours ago

Weighing in on the impact of the Emergency on India's foreign policy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that Indian fishermen have been getting arrested by Sri Lankan authorities due to an agreement made by the then government with the neighbouring country.
'At the time, several big decisions would be taken without a debate. These days, there is a discussion about our fishermen going to Sri Lanka and getting arrested there. That is because of an agreement signed with Sri Lanka at the time of Emergency, under which the rights of the fishermen to fish in some part of Sri Lankan waters were given up by us,' he said.
Jaishankar's statement comes at a time when the DMK government in poll-bound Tamil Nadu has repeatedly written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), raising concerns about the issue, seeking the Centre's intervention to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of Indian fishermen.
As per government data, Sri Lanka arrested more than 528 Indian fishermen in 2024.
'If it was not for an Emergency Parliament, if Parliament at the time was a genuine Parliament, there would have been a debate and I do not know if the Parliament would have allowed such an agreement,' he said, adding, 'The decisions taken at the time still show their impact in the state of Tamil Nadu'.
The state is expected to go to polls early next year.
Jaishankar was addressing the inaugural session of a mock Parliament organised by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, during which he also recalled that during the Emergency, the opposition side of the Parliament was empty as leaders were jailed.
On the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency, Jaishankar took aim at the Congress on Friday, stating that one family's interests were placed above the nation. 'All this happened because of one family… There is a movie titled 'Kissa Kursi Ka'… these three words aptly tell the reason behind the imposition of the Emergency. When a family is considered above the nation, things like the Emergency take place,' Jaishankar said.
He said that at the time, he was a 20-year-old student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and the biggest lesson from the Emergency was to never take one's freedom for granted. 'During the Emergency, the Opposition side of Parliament was empty. Leaders were jailed. This will never happen. I want to tell you what the biggest lesson is from the Emergency: Never take your freedom for granted. I was 20 years old when the Emergency was imposed. I was in JNU. People who are not aware of the Emergency, they think it was a political matter. But it impacted a way of life,' Jaishankar said.
He said that the Emergency was imposed to 'break the morale of the country and the society'. 'Many people, who were not even in politics, were impacted. Those who were in politics were well aware that doing politics meant an inevitable arrest, and those who were arrested were unaware if and when they would be released,' Jaishankar added.
Jaishankar said that 48 ordinances were passed during the Emergency period, followed by five amendments. He noted that the 38th amendment was regarding the declaration of the Emergency, and the 39th was on challenging the election of the Prime Minister in court.
'During the Emergency, 48 ordinances were passed. Just imagine, in two years, 48 ordinances and five amendments. Among these, three amendments were particularly significant. One was the 38th Amendment, which stated that you cannot challenge the declaration of Emergency in court. The 39th Amendment said that the Prime Minister's election could not be challenged in court and the 42nd Amendment allowed the dilution of fundamental rights and curtailed the powers of the courts,' he said.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More