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The Dalai Lama
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Tamil politicians object to Sinhalese housing scheme in Kokkilai
29 May 2019
Tamil politicians have objected to the approval of a housing scheme for
Sinhalese settlers in Mullaitivu on what several have said is
Tamil-owned land. The original owners of lands around the Kokkilai
Lagoon were evicted by the Sri Lankan army and most are too scared to
come forward due to the hostilities in the area between Sinhalese and
local Tamils, one politician said.
Sinhalese settlers have been agitating for a housing scheme in the area
which they claim they were promised houses in in the 1980s. A foundation
laying ceremony was reportedly planned to take place on May 11 but was
stopped by the Mullaitivu District Secretariat, Karaithuraipatru
(Maritimepattu) Divisional Secretariat and the TNA MP Shanthi
Sriskantharajah.
However, after protests by the Sinhalese settlers, the District
Secretariat along with several other government officials surveyed the
lagoon area and approved for 62 homes to be built on 6 perches of what
was claimed to be state land.
Shanthi Sriskantharajah MP however refuted the claims, stating that the
lands surrounding the Kokkilai lagoon were owned by Tamil families whose
deeds dated back to British colonial times. Ms Sriskantharajah also
noted that the lands where the settlers had built temporary housing were
cultivation lands on which it is legally prohibited to build homes.
“We cannot build houses for those illegally settled in lands belonging
to Tamil people,” she said. “The Tamils could not stop them from
settling down in those lands at that time, because of the war. Now that
the war is over, the Tamils are asking for their lands to be given back.
But instead the National Housing Development Authority is attempting to
grant a housing project for the illegal settlers. Yet, Tamils have
British era deeds for those lands. How could those lands be given to the
settlers? So, I took measures to stop it from happening. This is how
they have also managed to seize Manal Aru, our native land,” said
Shanthi Sriskantharajah.
Former Northern Provincial Council member T Ravikaran also objected to
the scheme’s approval, naming six individuals (names omitted) whom he
knew to be the owners of the allocated land.
“The Tamil people who lived there were evicted in 1984 after a sudden
announcement by the army,” Ravikaran said. “The fact that the Sinhalese
people who were settled there by encroaching on those lands after the
sudden eviction of the Tamils, lived in the lagoon area with the army’s
protection is an irrefutable truth.”
Also mentioning a Buddhist shrine constructed in the area on land
belonging to three Tamil families, Ravikaran said that one owner had
come forward to file an objection while the others did not come forward
as they feared that something might happen to them if they ask for their
lands to be given back to them in the current situation.
29 May 2019
Tamil politicians have objected to the approval of a housing scheme for
Sinhalese settlers in Mullaitivu on what several have said is
Tamil-owned land. The original owners of lands around the Kokkilai
Lagoon were evicted by the Sri Lankan army and most are too scared to
come forward due to the hostilities in the area between Sinhalese and
local Tamils, one politician said.
Sinhalese settlers have been agitating for a housing scheme in the area
which they claim they were promised houses in in the 1980s. A foundation
laying ceremony was reportedly planned to take place on May 11 but was
stopped by the Mullaitivu District Secretariat, Karaithuraipatru
(Maritimepattu) Divisional Secretariat and the TNA MP Shanthi
Sriskantharajah.
However, after protests by the Sinhalese settlers, the District
Secretariat along with several other government officials surveyed the
lagoon area and approved for 62 homes to be built on 6 perches of what
was claimed to be state land.
Shanthi Sriskantharajah MP however refuted the claims, stating that the
lands surrounding the Kokkilai lagoon were owned by Tamil families whose
deeds dated back to British colonial times. Ms Sriskantharajah also
noted that the lands where the settlers had built temporary housing were
cultivation lands on which it is legally prohibited to build homes.
“We cannot build houses for those illegally settled in lands belonging
to Tamil people,” she said. “The Tamils could not stop them from
settling down in those lands at that time, because of the war. Now that
the war is over, the Tamils are asking for their lands to be given back.
But instead the National Housing Development Authority is attempting to
grant a housing project for the illegal settlers. Yet, Tamils have
British era deeds for those lands. How could those lands be given to the
settlers? So, I took measures to stop it from happening. This is how
they have also managed to seize Manal Aru, our native land,” said
Shanthi Sriskantharajah.
Former Northern Provincial Council member T Ravikaran also objected to
the scheme’s approval, naming six individuals (names omitted) whom he
knew to be the owners of the allocated land.
“The Tamil people who lived there were evicted in 1984 after a sudden
announcement by the army,” Ravikaran said. “The fact that the Sinhalese
people who were settled there by encroaching on those lands after the
sudden eviction of the Tamils, lived in the lagoon area with the army’s
protection is an irrefutable truth.”
Also mentioning a Buddhist shrine constructed in the area on land
belonging to three Tamil families, Ravikaran said that one owner had
come forward to file an objection while the others did not come forward
as they feared that something might happen to them if they ask for their
lands to be given back to them in the current situation.
