Katchatheevu Island Controversy: All You Need To Know

A little island between India and Sri Lanka has triggered a political war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday targeted the Congress for "callously" giving away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back asking why the government did not act to take back the island in its 10 years in power and termed Modi's attack as poll-eve desperation.

Here is all you need to know about the Katchatheevu island controversy:

As per media reports, Katchatheevu is a 285-acre uninhabited island in the Palk Strait, between India and Sri Lanka. According to an NDTV report, Katchatheevu has been a disputed territory between India and its neighbour Sri Lanka since the British period.

The island, located about 33 km of Rameswaram and about 62 km southwest of Jaffna was traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen.

But dispute broke out again after Independence over fishing rights around the island, the report stated.

In 1974, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the 'Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement'.

The issue has resonance in Tamil Nadu, where fishermen often bear the brunt of Sri Lankan action against their alleged intrusion into its waters.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that the decision of the then Congress government at the Centre has led to the capture and imprisonment of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankans as they, at times, accidentally stray into the island's waters and are arrested.

"The island was with India till 1975," he said.

"Unfortunately, neither the DMK nor the Congress is raising the issue but Modi is due to his commitment to the issues pertaining to the country and its people," he added.

The BJP is hopeful that the issue will come handy in its efforts to gain political traction in the Dravidian territory as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, more so as it involves neighbouring Sri Lanka whose treatment of its Tamilian citizens has long been a charged political issue in the state.

The report shared by PM Modi is based on a RTI reply Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai received on the decision to hand over the territory to the neighbouring country in 1974.

The report also cites the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's comments on the issue that he would have no hesitation in giving up claims on the island.

Responding to the allegations, DMK organisation secretary R S Bharathi said the PM has "no achievements" to showcase and charged that he was only spreading "lies."

Bharathi said in 1974, the DMK held state-wide agitations and public meetings to oppose and condemn the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka.

(With PTI inputs)