Kachchatheevu
| Kachchatheevu | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Palkstrasse | |
| Geographical location | 9 ° 23 ′ 0 ″ N , 79 ° 31 ′ 0 ″ E | |
|
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| length | 1.6 km | |
| width | 300 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Kachchatheevu ( Tamil : கச்சத்தீவு Kaccattīvu [ ˈkatːʃət̪iːʋɯ ]; also: Katchatheevu, Kachatheevu, Kachativu ) is an uninhabited island in Sri Lanka . It is around 1.6 kilometers long and 300 meters wide and is located on the Palkstrasse between Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . The island of Neduntheevu (Delft), which belongs to Sri Lanka, is 19 kilometers northeast, the Indian island of Pamban with the city of Rameswaram 22 kilometers southwest.
Kachchatheevu has long been disputed between Sri Lanka and India. Originally, the island belonged to the property of the Rajas of Ramanathapuram (Ramnad) on the Indian side, which is why Indian fishermen traditionally claim fishing rights for the waters around Ramnad from the adjacent coastal areas . In 1974 India and Sri Lanka signed a sea border agreement between the two states through which the island became part of Sri Lanka.
At the same time, Indian fishermen and pilgrims were given the right to access the island unhindered. Because of the tense situation during the civil war in Sri Lanka (1983-2009) and disputes over fishing rights in the Palk Strait, there were repeated conflicts in the waters around Kachchatheevu: Indian fishermen who fish in Sri Lankan territorial waters were regularly caught by the Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil LTTE rebel naval forces or Sri Lankan fishermen. Political parties in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu have taken up the issue and are calling for Kachchatheevu's cession to Sri Lanka to be reversed.
On Kachchatheevu there is a Catholic church dedicated to St. Anthony . Every year in March there is a church festival on the island, to which numerous Catholic fishermen make a pilgrimage from both sides of Palkstrasse. After a twenty-year hiatus due to the civil war, the festival has been held again since 2002. In 2014 it was visited by over 5000 believers from Sri Lanka and India.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The Hindu, June 9, 2011: "Resolution passed on Katchatheevu". ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Hindu, March 17, 2014: "Religious festival on Palk Bay strip unites competing fisherfolk".
