Indian police have arrested more than 40 members of a pro-Tamil group in Tamil Nadu on Monday when they tried to sail to Sri Lanka's Kachchatheevu Island to hoist the Indian flag there.
Tamil Nadu Police had arrested 43 workers of the Hindu Makkal Katchi, including its state unit President Annadurai, when they were on their way to the fishing jetty in Rameswaram, heading to the disputed island, a PTI report said.
The group was reportedly demanding that fishermen should be allowed to fish in and around the island.
Indian police had banned fishing for the day to prevent any embarrassing incidents and maintained strict vigil.
According to a local media report in Sri Lanka, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition political party in India has said that the party was making preparations to go by force to Kachchatheevu by boat and raise the Indian flag, but no date has been set for the move yet.
However, the Sri Lankan Navy has said that it will block any attempt by the Indian demonstrators to cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) into Sri Lankan waters and reach the disputed island.
The transfer of Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka has been under dispute as Indian fishermen claim they have the rights to fish around the island.
In June this year the new Chief Minister Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu government filed a petition in the Indian Supreme Court seeking the declaration of the 1974 agreement between India and Sri Lanka on ceding Kachchatheevu to the latter as unconstitutional.
Both Indian and Sri Lankan governments say the transfer cannot be reversed.
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