Chennai, July 2 (Reporter) Observing that there was an unprecedented increase in incidents of arrests of Taml Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy in recent weeks and accusing the BJP-led Government at the Centre of using the Katchatheevu as an election-time rhetoric, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday wrote to External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr.S.Jaishankar urging him to take necessary concrete steps to find a lasting solution to uphold the traditional rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen. "Despite the fact that the BJP led government is in power for the third consecutive term, no tangible and meaningful effort has been taken to retrieve the island except for using the issue as an election time rhetoric!", Mr Stalin said. "The need of the hour is to ease the problems faced by the fishermen of Tamil Nadu and to find a lasting solution to this festering problem", he said. Poiniting out to the arrest of 25 fishermen along with their two motorised country crafts and two fishing boats on Monday, Mr Stalin, in a Demi-Official letter to Dr Jaishankar said there is an unprecedented increase in instances of apprehension of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan authorities in the recent weeks. Referring to Dr Jaishankar's letter to him on June 27 in which he had mentioned that the genesis of this issue goes back to 1974 following an understanding between the then Union Government and the State Government, the Chief Minister said the DMK-led State Government opposed the Katchatheevu Agreement tooth and nail and its opposition to the same was made clear both in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the Parliament. The fact that the State Government was not properly consulted in this regard is well known, he said, adding, it was the Union Government that ceded the island to Sri Lanka completely, jeopardising and depriving the rights and interests of Indian Fishermen. He also recalled his leader and then DMK President M Karunanidhi had even filed a sworn-in affidavit before the Supreme Court and categorically stated that “When the entire exercise undertaken by Government are devoid of constitutionality, it cannot be said the sovereignty of Katchatheevu island is a settled matter”. "Therefore, I reiterate my request to you to take necessary concrete steps to find a lasting solution to this vexatious issue so that the traditional rights of the Tamil Nadu fishermen are upheld", he said. This is the third letter written by Mr Stalin to the EAM in the recent few days following the continued arrests of fishermen by the Lankan Navy and urged him to take diplomatic steps to secure their release and their boats. He also said the meeting of Joint Working Group of both the countries should be convened soon to find a lasting solution...////...