Katchatheevu row in TN Assembly; TVK blames Karunanidhi, DMK accuses Indira Gandhi

The Katchatheevu issue sparked a heated TN Assembly debate, with TVK minister Nirmal Kumar blaming M Karunanidhi for the 1974 handover, while the DMK blamed the Indira Gandhi government. Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert defended the deal, citing India's gains from the Wadge Bank. The DMK also accused TVK of using the debate for social media 'reels.'India recognised Katchatheevu island as Sri Lankan territory in 1974. (File photo)The uninhabited 285-acre Katchatheevu island has once again become the centre of debate, triggering a heated exchange in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, with the ruling TVK and the DMK clashing over the 1974 handover of the island to Sri Lanka. The issue was last raked up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other members of his cabinet ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when they alleged that the DMK and Congress were hand-in-hand in handing over the island to Sri Lanka.The incident died down soon after the Lok Sabha elections but was raised again on Wednesday when Tamil Nadu minister Nirmal Kumar blamed then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for allowing the handover, while the DMK accused him of making a false claim and said the decision was taken by the Indira Gandhi government without the state’s consent.Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert defended the deal, claiming India gained the 25-lakh-acre Wadge Bank in return.TVK MINISTER BLAMES KARUNANIDHIMinister Nirmal Kumar said the Centre had indeed made efforts to hand over Katchatheevu, but questioned what the Tamil Nadu government of the time had done to oppose the move. Drawing a comparison with West Bengal, he cited then Chief Minister B C Roy’s opposition to the proposed transfer of Berubari to then East Pakistan. According to Kumar, Roy approached the Supreme Court and successfully stopped the handover.Kumar then turned to Karunanidhi, saying the then External Affairs Secretary Keval Singh had held private discussions with the Tamil Nadu chief minister twice. “In 1974, when this issue was debated in Parliament, DMK member SS Marisamy asked, saying they were completely unaware of this matter,” Kumar said.He claimed Karunanidhi later admitted to reporters that Keval Singh had spoken to him about the matter, and argued that the then chief minister could have stopped the transfer if he had wanted to.“If Kalaignar had wanted to, he could have prevented Katchatheevu from being ceded,” Kumar said, adding that the suffering of Tamil Nadu’s fishermen could have been prevented.DMK HITS BACKThe DMK rejected the minister’s version, calling it a “completely false assertion” being placed on record in the Assembly.The party said Katchatheevu was handed over to Sri Lanka by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi without the consent of the state government.The DMK said that although the issue was outside the state’s constitutional powers, the party had opposed the move through resolutions, meetings and public campaigns across the state.“We took the message directly to the public. In this Assembly, too, we passed a resolution opposing it,” the DMK said.It also said successive DMK governments had written multiple letters to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and subsequent prime ministers demanding that Katchatheevu be retrieved and returned to India.The party accused the minister of making “wild assertions” without basis.CONGRESS JUSTIFIES MOVECongress MLA Tharahai offered a different justification for the Katchatheevu agreement, pointing to the Wadge Bank deal.“Katchatheevu is a land measuring 285 acres,” she said, arguing that India received the Wadge Bank, covering 25 lakh acres, in return for ceding the island.She questioned why the debate focused only on the first agreement while ignoring the subsequent arrangement involving the Wadge Bank and India’s Exclusive Economic Zone.“If we ceded 285 acres of Katchatheevu, history records that we gained 25 lakh acres in return,” Tharahai said.She also questioned the revenue and benefits India derives from the Wadge Bank, including petroleum oil exploration.DMK ACCUSES TVK OF 'REELS POLITICSDMK leader Govi Chezhian accused the TVK and the ruling side of using the Katchatheevu debate for political optics rather than substantive discussion.He said a sensational issue was being introduced when a debate was progressing properly, followed by lengthy remarks from the Law Minister that forced the opposition to react.According to Chezhian, the resulting scenes were then captured on camera and turned into social media reels.“They are merely using the Katchatheevu issue to create ‘reels’, not for genuine substance,” he said.Chezhian urged the Speaker to ensure that Assembly proceedings showed both sides and did not project a one-sided picture to the public.- EndsPublished By: Sayan GangulyPublished On: Sep 2, 2026 19:17 IST