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Fishing for space: Socio-spatial relations of Indian trawl fishers in the Palk Bay, South Asia, in the context of trans-boundary fishing
Stephen, J.
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Citation for published version (APA): Stephen, J. (2015). Fishing for space: Socio-spatial relations of Indian trawl fishers in the Palk Bay, South Asia, in the context of trans-boundary fishing.
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Download date: 30 Oct 2019 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Fishing for Space
In one of the versions of the Hindu mythological scripture, The Ramayan1, Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Ram, is said to have drawn a line outside their exiled residence in the forest which guaranteed protection to Sita, the wife of Lord Ram, as long as she stayed behind it. Lakshman then went in search of Lord Ram, who he believed was lost in the forest. The story then proceeds to explain how Sita inadvertently crossed this line only to be kidnapped by the antagonist in the story, Ravanan. Notwithstanding the highly patriarchal overtones of this story, my interest is with regard to the line drawn by Lakshman, often referred to as the Lakshman Rekha Sita’s protection, also signaled helplessness (by the powers that be) when crossed. This thesis is uncannily related to this story. According to the scriptures Sita was kidnapped across the Palk Bay to Sri Lanka and a war ensued across this bay to rescue Sita from the clutches of Ravanan. Thousands of pilgrims from all over India visit the island of Rameswaram situated in Palk Bay in reverence to Lord Ram and pray at a shrine on the island believed to be built by the Lord Ram himself. While 2 For them, the Lakshman Rekha here is the International Maritime Boundary Line however much more complex, and will form the basis of this thesis.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The Palk Bay, a relatively shallow stretch of the sea between India and Sri Lanka, is a killed by the Sri Lankan Navy since the beginning of the civil war in 1983, due to this transgression into Sri Lankan waters (Vivekanandan, 2010). The transgression
2 Chapter 1: Introduction