A government minister on Friday denied that state sponsored settlement of Sinhala people into the Tamil areas was taking place under the current administration, claiming instead that it only took place under the previous regime with the former defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
"It was during former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s time that Sinhala settlements had been created in the North," Sri Lanka's health minister, Rajitha Senaratne was quoted by The Island as saying.
"No such thing is happening now," he said.
Highlighting the building of memorials in the North-East by Tamils, Senaratne claimed the Tamil people were not interested in this.
"When we meet the Tamils, they speak about housing, schooling for their children, employment opportunities etc. They don’t take notice of the noises that Vigneswaran makes," he was further quoted by the paper as saying.
Last month thousands of Tamils protested in Mullaitivu against what they described as state sponsored Sinhala colonisation of the area.
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