Systematic land grab “at its peak in Mullaitivu” amid military intimidations

26 NOVEMBER 2013

BY RAMANAN VEERASINGHAM

Aiming to geographically divide the traditional homeland of the Tamil people, the Colombo government has engaged in a systematic land grab in full-scale in the North-Eastern Mullaitivu district under the guise of implementing the Mahawali Development Projects, a media report from northern Jaffna peninsula said on Tuesday.

“Land grab by the government in Mullaitivu is at its peak now. 22 Sinhalese from the South have been allocated 25 acres of Tamil land slots each near Koddaikerni Pillaiyar temple at Kokkuthoduvai in Mullaitivu, under the Mahawali Development Project,” Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper, has quoted Northern Provincial Councillor Thurairajah Ravikaran as saying on Tuesday.

According to Uthayan, the member of the newly elected Northern Provincial Council has visited the military garrison-town of Mullaitivu where the systematic military land grab was taking place, despite many protests and objections.

600 acre mango plantation

“Two teams of Sinhalese workers have been actively deployed to deforest these areas using heavy machines. When inquired, they humbly told me that they have been given the contract to deforest this area, before handing them over to Sinhalese people (25 acres each) from the South to plant mango trees in 600 acre area. They told me that they have brought along with them the mango plants for this new project, designated under the Mahaweli Development Project,” the Provincial Councillor has said, adding that the military in the area was giving full protection to this programme.

Mullaitivu was formerly the military headquarters of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were militarily defeated in a bloody war in May 2009. According to independent estimates, over 140,000 innocent Tamil people, including women and children, have been killed and several hundred thousand have been maimed during the final months of the war.

“At a time when our people are flatly denied their basic rights to be resettled in their traditional homelands in the Northern and Eastern provinces, the government is distributing their lands to the Sinhalese people from the South for cultivation. This is nothing but a systematic land grab by the state. This is aimed at geographically dividing the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which has been our traditional homeland. This wouldn’t have happened if our protectors had still been existing,” Northern Provincial Councillor Ravikaran has told Uthayan.

Commemorations banned

Meanwhile, the military has stepped up its campaign of intimidation on the eve of the Heroes’ Day commemorations. Banning any such commemorating events, Sri Lankan military has stepped up random road-checks, road-blocks and search operations in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi areas.

According to latest reports from the North, head of the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association, Amirthalingam Rajakumaran, has been summoned to the Terrorism Investigation Division for inquiries, in relation to a report relating to Heroes’ Week commemorations. A Jaffna-based media quoting the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association has reported on Monday that “no one has the right to ban the Heroes’ Week Commemorations as it was the LTTE which was banned, but not the fallen heroes”.