It is these labourers who get caught in the attacks by the Sri Lankan navy.

The fishermen of Pudukottai district have held demonstrations demanding that a criminal case be filed against the Sri Lankan Navy.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister has written to the Prime Minister seeking an investigation into the recent deaths.

On Wednesday, MPs from both the DMK and AIADMK raised it in the Rajya Sabha.

In response to their submissions, the external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, told the Rajya Sabha that India has expressed its concern with Sri Lanka in the strongest terms.

The year 1983 has a significant place in the history of Sri Lanka as well.

In July 1983, there was a massive campaign against the Tamils in Colombo.

Several hundred Tamils were killed and several thousand went into exile.

That was the starting point of the influx of Tamil refugees to India through the Palk Strait.

India was providing training to different militant groups on Indian soil.

It is against this backdrop that Sri Lankan personnel opened fire on the Indian fishermen in August 1983, in which one fisherman from Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu was killed.

This was seen in Tamil Nadu as a reaction to the move by India to support the Tamil militant groups.

It was also seen as a move to stop the Tamil refugees from travelling to India.

The Palk Strait is a narrow strip between Sri Lanka and India.

This may happen by mistake or intentionally for a better catch.

This was a huge issue in Tamil Nadu from then on for several years.

A 1991 film, Azhagan directed by K Balachandar, has a dance sequence that showcases a newly-wedded couple from the fishermen community.

The boy, in half-mind, leaves his young wife to go to the sea.

The story goes on to say that the boy is shot by the Sri Lankan navy and the film ends on the note that the girl continues to wait for him.

The Tamil Nadu government in one of its submission to the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has submitted that 83 fishermen were killed from 1991 to 2011.

In his submission yesterday in the Rajya Sabha, AIADMK MP and former deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha Thambi Durai mentioned that 245 Indian fishermen have been killed by Sri Lankan personnel over the decades until now.

It does not include people who succumbed to injuries after reaching the shore.

As a person who has been for long working on this issue, I have had frequent interactions with the fishermen from Rameshwaram and nearby villages.

After the introduction of trawlers in the late 1990s, many outsiders have invested in the trawlers in the area and the traditional fishermen from the locality are hired to work in these trawlers.

Tamil Nadu Fishermen Killed Year Wise