Chennai, Oct 4 : The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), accusing them of historic betrayal over the ceding of Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974 and of continued political hypocrisy on the issue.

In a strongly worded statement, BJP state spokesperson A.N.S. Prasad said CM Stalin blamed the Union government for fishermen's hardships, "deliberately ignoring" the DMK's role in "surrendering" Tamil interests.

"The people of Tamil Nadu, particularly the coastal fishing communities, deserve honesty and reparation, not selective outrage," Prasad said.

Katchatheevu, a 285-acre uninhabited island in the Palk Strait, was ceded to Sri Lanka by the Congress-led Centre under an agreement in 1974.

The BJP alleged that the process bypassed Parliament, ignoring constitutional provisions for altering national boundaries.

At the time, DMK founder and then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, despite being briefed by the Ministry of External Affairs, "failed" to oppose the move beyond a token Assembly resolution.

"This was not ignorance; it was political expediency," Prasad said, citing declassified government records that show the DMK leadership was aware of the consequences but remained silent to preserve its alliance with Congress.

The BJP also accused the DMK of "failing" to act when it shared power with the Congress-led UPA between 2004 and 2014, a period marked by frequent arrests of Tamil fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities.

"Over a thousand fishermen were detained annually then, yet no diplomatic pushback came from DMK ministers," Prasad charged.

In contrast, the BJP highlighted its own stance, recalling that the then Jan Sangh leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had opposed the 1974 agreement to cede Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in Parliament.

Since coming to power, the BJP-led NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, according to the party, secured the release and repatriation of over 5,000 fishermen, including those on death row.

Prasad said CM Stalin's alliance with Congress undermines his credibility to question the Centre and demanded that the Chief Minister "publicly apologise to the fishing community for decades of betrayal".

He added that only sustained diplomatic efforts under the Modi government can restore Tamil fishermen's rights and safeguard India's maritime interests.

/IANS