Katchatheevu island row: Debate rages ahead of LS polls as BJP demands "apology" from Congress, DMK ; Opposition hits back with "2015 RTI reply"

New Delhi [India], April 1 : The decades-old issue of Katchatheevu island continued to heat up on Monday, with both Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition training guns at each other, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Katchatheevu issue may impact polls and predominantly in Tamil Nadu, which contributes 39 seats to the Parliament. Tamil Nadu will vote in the first phase on April 19.
The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the then Congress government at Centre and DMK-government in Tamil Nadu of "ceding" the territorial land and fishing rights to Sri Lanka and demanded an apology. The Opposition parties, mainly the Congress and DMK, hit back at BJP, accusing it of bringing an age-old topic just ahead of the elections.
BJP Tamil Nadu Chief K Annamalai said that the Centre is working to retrieve the Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka.
While, Congress general secretary in-charge Communication, Jairam Ramesh brought an RTI reply by Ministry of External Affairs from 2015, where it was stated that the agreement did not involve either acquiring or ceding of territory and the island lied on the Sri Lankan side of the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime Boundary Line.
The issue pertains to the year 1974 when the then Indira Gandhi government had accepted the island was a Sri Lankan area under the India-Sri Lankan maritime agreement. The issue has again resurfaced after a media report based on a RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on the 1974 pact.
PM Modi on Monday targeted Congress party and DMK over the Katchatheevu island issue. He said that Congress "callously" gave away the island. He also alleged the ruling party of Tamil Nadu did "nothing" to safeguard the state's interests.
"Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds- we can't ever trust Congress! Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting," PM Modi said in a post on X on Sunday referring to a media report.
"Rhetoric aside, DMK has done NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests. New details emerging on #Katchatheevu have UNMASKED the DMK's double standards totally. Congress and DMK are family units. They only care that their own sons and daughters rise. They don't care for anyone else. Their callousness on Katchatheevu has harmed the interests of our poor fishermen and fisherwomen in particular," PM Modi said in another post on Monday.
Doubling down on PM Modi's charge at Opposition over the Katchatheevu island row, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today alleged that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not give importance to the island territory.
Addressing a press conference, the EAM said, "Today, it is important for the public to know and the people to judge, this issue has been hidden too long from the gaze of the public."
"This is an observation by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in May of 1961. He says, he writes, I attach no importance at all to this little island and I would have no hesitation in giving up our claim to it. I do not like matters like this pending. Indefinitely and being raised again and again in parliament. So to Pandit Nehru, this was a little island. It had no importance. He saw it as a nuisance," Jaishankar said.
"That fact is they simply did not care..." he added.
In another big statement on the issue, BJP Tamil Nadu chief, K Annamalai said that the Union government is trying everything possible to retrieve Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka.
"Katchatheevu was given to Sri Lanka with the consent of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi. He spoke with Kewal Singh - former External Affairs Minister. Now, the BJP has given a letter to EAM Jaishankar to get back Katchatheevu," Annamalai told reporters on Monday.
"It should be brought back to India; this is our stand. Centre is trying everything possible to bring back Katchatheevu to protect fishermen," he added.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also attacked the Congress and DMK over the Katchatheevu island row alleging that the "first family of the Congress party and the first family of the DMK together colluded" and Katchatheevu island was handed over to Sri Lanka on a platter.
"Congress did it, DMK hid it. These two parties are responsible for it. Congress took then Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi into confidence and Karunanidhi said despite strong public reactions, he will manage," he said.
Calling the Katchatheevu issue a "grave historic blunder," BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan on Monday slammed Congress and DMK for giving the Katchatheevu island in a "Shakuni-like match-fixing", adding that they betrayed Tamil interests and also undermined India's sovereignty and integrity.
"Today the Foreign Minister has given a very detailed press conference talking about the RTI documents and they have completely exposed and unmasked the Congress and the DMK's Shakuni-like match-fixing. The double standards of Congress and DMK in giving away the all-important island of Katchatheevu and betraying Tamil interests and also undermining India's sovereignty and integrity," Kesavan said.
Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy demanded an apology from Congress and DMK for "selling" Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.
"DMK and Congress should apologise to the people of Tami Nadu for handing over or selling this island (Katchatheevu). We care about the Tamil fishermen," Thirupathy told ANI.
BJP leader and former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan also hit out at the Congress and the DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, over the Katchatheevu Island issue, accusing them of "donating it for their personal gains".
The island, located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka, was traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen.
In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement."
Hitting back at the allegations levelled by BJP, Congress MP and former Union Minister P Chidambaram dubbed the charges as "absurd". He claimed that sufferings of over 6 lakhs Tamils who were in Sri Lanka compelled the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi to acknowledge that the island belonged to the neighbouring country
"It's an absurd allegation. This agreement was arrived at in 1974 and 1976. PM Modi is referring to a recent RTI reply, he should refer to the RTI reply of January 27, 2015, when I believe EAM S Jaishankar was foreign secretary. That reply clearly says that after negotiations on the island lay on the Sri Lankan side of the international border. Why did Indira Gandhi acknowledge that it belonged to Sri Lanka? Because 6 lakh Tamils were suffering in Sri Lanka, they had to come to India as refugees. As a result of this settlement, 6 lakh Tamils came to India and they are enjoying freedom with all the Human rights here," Chidambaram said.
Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said that BJP has a very "unproductive" habit of fighting historical battles, adding that raking an over 50-year-old issue shows how "divorced" BJP is from the political reality in the state of Tamil Nadu.
"The issue of Katchatheevu was settled between two sovereign nations over 50 years ago. Nations enter into pacts, there is a give and take particularly between neighbouring countries. Now to suddenly rake it up and to think that this is some sort of an issue on the ground in Tamil Nadu also clearly shows how divorced the BJP is from the reality of the political reality in Tamil Nadu," he said.
Further hitting out at BJP, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh brought up the Ministry of External Affairs' reply to RTI query on the issue back in 2015.
Slamming EAM Jaishankar, the Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications on Monday asked if the "EAM" Jaishankar is disowning the reply given by MEA in 2015 when Jaishankar was serving as the 'Foreign Secretary'.
"The MEA's response to a RTI query on Katchatheevu in 2015 had said "This [Agreement] did not involve either acquiring or ceding of territory belonging to India since the area in question had never been demarcated. Under the Agreements, the Island of Katchatheevu lies on the Sri Lankan side of the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime Boundary Line," he posted on X.
DMK MP Kanimozhi also brought the border dispute with China alleging that huge areas of land has been occupied by China and it is also coming up so-called names for the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Taking to social media platform X, Kanimozhi said, "It is evident that Union BJP government has allowed China to infiltrate our country to the extent of them changing the name of Arunachal Pradesh. Has the BJP mortgaged the country's security for their own gain? When will PM Modi, who is spreading slander for votes in Tamil Nadu, address the China border issue?"
Tamil Nadu Congress President K Selvaperunthagai said why the Katchatheevu issue is being debated after 50 years, and asked the Modi government to "tell the truth about how many sq km has China occupied in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh."
"Even today, they (China) have named 30 villages in Mandarin language. PM Modi should talk about Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, about Parliament colour powder bombs, about Manipur and about our 44 army warriors killed by Pakistan. Why is he talking about this (Katchatheevu) after 50 years, we will answer soon," he added.