Jaffna locals successfully thwart Archaeology Department excavation efforts
"Just a few days after the UNHCR meeting, the Sinhala government is showing their true face [...] in the Sinhalisation of the North-East," said Tamil lawyer Sugash Kanagaratnam. https://t.co/ecEWcm8t9w pic.twitter.com/1A3ZNOmGOC
— Tamil Guardian (@TamilGuardian) March 30, 2021
The Sri Lankan Archaeology Department halted excavations in Puttur following large protests and outcry from the locals. The chairman of the Valikamam East Divisional Council branded the excavation illegal as department officials presented no documentations.
He asked the officials to, “stop lying to the people” regarding their true intentions for the excavation. The Archaeology Department had surveyed the area last month, which sparked backlash. Last week, department officials accompanied by army officers attempted to excavate a well without providing any prior notice or official documentation.
Large groups of locals immediately gathered in the area to oppose the move and the district chairman ultimately confiscated the excavation tools, and took them in his van. He stated that he would drop the officials and their equipment at the district council office.
The chairman added that as a government worker he should not be “intimidated and harassed by army officers” or be “threatened with arrest” by police for performing his duty as chairman and protecting his people.
Tamil lawyer Sugash Kanagaratnam said, “just few days after the UNHRC meeting the Sinhalese government is showing their true face” to disenfranchise Tamil people, adding that these land grabs and excavations are plainly “efforts to reappropriate Tamil land.”
Kanagaratnam expressed his concerns that these efforts confirm that the Archaeological Department are either trying to “bury something” in the hopes of recovering it later or to initiate a “Buddhist vihara construction” process. He added that this was another move towards Sinhalisation of the North-East by the Sri Lankan government.
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