PM Modi had attacked the Congress and the Opposition in Lok Sabha last year, attributing the cession of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka to the leadership of Indira Gandhi.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday criticised the Congress saying the “newly uncovered facts” suggest that the party gave away the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974.
The Prime Minister’s remarks were prompted by a report in The Times of India on Sunday, which referenced documents obtained via a Right to Information request. These documents indicate that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi agreed to transfer the island, located off the coast of Tamil Nadu, to Sri Lanka.
“Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu,” PM Modi wrote on Sunday in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“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,” he added.
The information was brought to light by K Annamalai, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu chief, who secured the documents through a Right to Information application, as reported by the newspaper.
“Slow claps for Congress! They willingly gave up #Katchatheevu and had no regrets about it either. Sometimes an MP of the Congress speaks about dividing the nation and sometimes they denigrate Indian culture and traditions. This shows that they are against the unity and integrity of India,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on X.
Shah was apparently referring to Congress MP DK Suresh who in February this year had said that southern states would be forced to demand a “separate nation” if they are not treated at par with states in other parts of India.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge responded to the charge with a detailed post on X. “You have suddenly woken up to the issues of territorial integrity and national security in your 10th year of misrule. Perhaps, elections are the trigger. Your desperation is palpable,” Kharge wrote.
Another Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, alleged the RTI application filed by Annamalai received “VVIP treatment” while “lakhs” of others are “ignored or rejected”.
“Unable to answer to his own poor record of national security, and faced with getting exactly ZERO seats in Tamil Nadu, the PM and his drumbeaters have become desperate,” Ramesh wrote in a post on X.
He added, “History is twisted and distorted. Congress leaders are defamed, ignoring the circumstances and contexts in which these decisions were taken.”
What is the Katchatheevu issue?
Katchatheevu, a tiny 285-acre uninhabited island nestled in the Palk Strait, serves as a natural demarcation point between India and Sri Lanka. Its origins trace back to a volcanic eruption in the 14th century, sculpting its modest dimensions of 1.6 km in length and just over 300 m in width.
Situated approximately 33 km from the Indian coast and 62 km southwest of Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, Katchatheevu has a Catholic church dating back to the early 20th century. Annually, priests and devotees from both India and Sri Lanka gather at the shrine to conduct religious services, reports said.
Initially under the dominion of Sri Lanka’s Jaffna kingdom during the early medieval period, Katchatheevu shifted hands to India’s Ramnad kingdom in the 17th century. While it was part of the Madras Presidency during the British rule, with both nations staking claim over the island since at least 1921 to determine the maritime fishing boundaries.
Historical records reveal a tug-of-war over Katchatheevu’s jurisdiction. While a British-era survey designated the island as part of Sri Lanka, a British delegation from India contested this assertion, citing the Ramnad kingdom’s ownership, according to The Indian Express.
Despite India and Sri Lanka’s independence, the dispute persisted. In 1974, both nations inked an agreement delineating their maritime boundary, effectively consigning Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, with the boundary running a mile off its western coast.
However, the controversy remains a significant feature of Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, intertwined with the recurring plight of fishermen from the state detained or attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy.
In response to legal challenges mounted by Tamil Nadu’s political parties against the Centre’s stance, the Union government in 2013 told the Supreme Court that there existed no basis for reclaiming Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, as no Indian territory had been ceded.
The documents shed light on Jawaharlal Nehru’s stance regarding Katchatheevu in 1961. Nehru, the Prime Minister at the time, reportedly expressed willingness to relinquish India’s claims to the island, dismissing the issue as inconsequential.
Nehru’s remarks were part of a note drafted by YD Gundevia, the Commonwealth Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry during that period. These notes were shared as background information with Parliament’s informal consultative committee in 1968, according to ToI.
Nehru’s stance contradicted Attorney General MC Setalvad’s assertion in 1960, who had deemed India’s case stronger than that of Sri Lanka. K Krishna Rao, the Joint Secretary (Law and Treaties) in the External Affairs Ministry, had also argued that New Delhi possessed a robust legal foundation and could potentially secure fishing rights on the island, the report added.
The decision to relinquish Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka was communicated to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in June 1974 by Foreign Secretary Kewal Singh. Singh highlighted that although the Raja of Ramnad held zamindari rights over the island, Sri Lanka had failed to provide documentary evidence supporting its claims.
However, Singh emphasized Sri Lanka’s firm stance in the dispute, citing historical records, including British and Dutch maps, which showed Katchatheevu as part of the Jaffnapatnam kingdom. Additionally, the State of Madras allegedly failed to substantiate the Raja of Ramnad’s land title.
Sri Lanka had asserted sovereignty over the island since 1925 without facing any opposition from India, the report claimed.
PM Modi had attacked the Congress and the Opposition in Lok Sabha last year, attributing the cession of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka to the leadership of Indira Gandhi. The report added that the Opposition tried to corner the Indira Gandhi-led government over the issue during a discussion in Parliament in 1968 and again in 1969.
During his address in Lok Sabha, PM Modi also singled out Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a constituent of the Opposition INDIA bloc. In a pointed remark, he recounted receiving letters from the DMK leadership urging him to reclaim Katchatheevu.
“What is Katchatheevu? Who did it? Beyond Tamil Nadu, and right before Sri Lanka, someone had given away an island to another country. When was it given? Where did it go? Wasn’t it a part of Mother India? Was it not a part of Maa Bharti? And you cut that off too. Who was in power at that time?” PM Modi said in the Parliament.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, the son of the late M Karunanidhi, refuted claims linking Indian fishermen’s predicament to the alleged actions of the DMK and Congress. He asserted that Katchatheevu was relinquished to Sri Lanka despite vehement protests by his party during its tenure in 1974.
“Is the prime minister so innocent to believe that a state government can cede a part of the country to another nation? What are the steps taken by the BJP in the last 10 years to retrieve Katchatheevu?” Stalin was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Beyond the DMK, various political factions in Tamil Nadu have long advocated for a review of the 1974 agreement, citing its potential to curb attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), in particular, has included the acquisition of Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka in its electoral promises for the Lok Sabha elections.