CHENNAI: The Marina Beach, today, is one of the city’s most populated public spaces and is hardly ever associated with gunfire or violence. But for a large section of the fishing community, it will always be the site of one of their greatest stands for justice. More than 100 fishermen from Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts, on Sunday, paid respect to seven fisherman-martyrs who sacrificed their lives, fighting the Tamil Nadu Government’s attempt to remove catamarans from the Marina Beach, 26 years ago.
The event was organised by the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association (SIFWA), led by K Bharathi and Tamil Nadu Meenavar Makkal Sangam, led by Kosumani. They vowed to continue their fight for which they had sacrificed their lives – the protection of traditional fishermen’s rights, whatever the cost.
Five persons - M Manoharan, M Thulukkanam, G Sekar, S Kullasekar and M Chinnapillai – in the age group of 24 to 40 from Ayothi Kuppam, Nochi Kuppam and Maatan Kuppam, were killed when the police opened fire on the agitators on December 4, 1985. The agitation began when the then government, led by charismatic leader and friend of the fishermen, M G Ramachandran, attempted to remove catamarans from the Marina Beach, stating development as the reason.
Annammal, another fisherwoman-agitator died during a protest demonstration near Gandhi Statue on November 6 (1985), while a young fisherman G A Kothandaraman from Ayothi Kuppam set himself on fire in front of the State Secretariat on November 7 (1985). Narrating an eyewitness account of the 1985-police firing to City Express, K Bharathi, who was a teenager then and now the president of South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association (SIFWA), said, “On the fateful day, we were playing on the sand near the Gandhi Statue in the morning (around 9 AM) and all of the sudden, we heard loud firing sounds from the side where our people were agitating. Fishermen families started running in different directions to save themselves from bullets.”
“It was chaos for more than an hour after the shooting. A posse of police personnel then started descending near the fishermen hamlets along the Marina stretch to deter any build-up against them,” Bharathi recalled.
Since then, fishermen living at different hamlets near Marina observe December 4 as historic, on which day they won back their traditional rights. “My father had died shouting, ‘Rescue our fishermen’s rights’ outside the Secretariat, and now, I am ready to sacrifice my life if fishermen’s livelihood comes under threat,” Krishnan, the youngest son of one of the martyrs Kothandaraman told City Express.
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