The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) accused the government of ‘sinister’ militarisation and land appropriation in the North-East with a ‘definite purpose’ of changing the demographic composition of the North-East with the aim of making a political solution for the Tamils ‘irrelevant and unnecessary.'
Highlighting that thousands of Tamil families lost their land to the Sri Lankan military in High Security Zone in the North-East, the TNA leader R Sampanthan, during a statement made in parliament on Thursday, asked if there was a ‘sinister’ motive to the appropriation of Tamil land.
Sampanthan said that the land appropriation in the eastern provinces was to break the linguistic continuity of the North-East, whilst highlighting that the Northern and Eastern provinces were historically Tamil areas, and insisting they must become one unit of devolution, with one provincial council. His statement further warned that there was a strategy to break up the ‘linguistic continuity’ of the North-East as part of the government plan to remove the need for a meaningful political solution for the Tamils.
He added that, though promises had been made by the Supreme Court to release these lands back to the Tamil people, the commitments had not been met and civilians were not able to resettle in their original lands.
Extracts reproduced below.
“There are tens of thousands of Tamil families in this position. Why is there no serious effort to address this issue? Despite all the protests and demonstrations that are taking place in the North and the East, despite the matter having been raised in Parliament on several occasions, why is this issue not being addressed seriously? Is this attitude of the Government not indicative of the Government having a sinister objective? I want to pose this question."
“All this is being done because you want to change the demographic composition of the North and the East and you want to change the cultural and linguistic identity of the districts in the North and the East. These things are being done with a definite purpose, the purpose being to change the demographic composition of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the cultural and linguistic identity of the Northern and Eastern Provinces so as to make a political resolution, a political solution irrelevant and unnecessary. That is the objective with which you are pursuing this agenda,” he later said in an answer to his question.
“What is the need for the High Security Zone? It is not necessary any longer. So, what is the purpose in the army continuing to occupy the land which was being held as a High Security Zone purely for security reasons against the LTTE and the LTTE's long range artillery? When the LTTE is not there, the long range artillery is not there, you are in complete control of all land, what is the need?”
“Trincomalee is the northern most district in the Eastern Province and Mullaitivu is the southern most district in the Northern Province. All these actions of the Government and persons who are working with the Government are concentrated largely in Mullaitivu and Trincomalee because you want to break the linguistic contiguity of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. That clearly shows that you are pursuing a definite sinister objective which cannot be permitted and this is why I say that these actions of yours have geopolitical and geo-strategic dimensions and there can be consequences which will not be to the benefit of this country.”
“A large number of houses, a large number of schools, a large number of temples within these lands have been destroyed. Some lands are possessed by the Army, some lands are possessed by the Navy. They have been used for purpose of occupation, for purpose of cultivation, for purpose of recreation and several other purposes. Tennis courts have come up on these lands, golf courses have come up on these lands, swimming pools have come up on these lands, luxury bungalows for occupation by security personnel have come up on these lands, lands on which our people lived and from which our people, farmers derived their livelihood. They have been taken over, they have been used in this way and tens of thousands of Tamil civilian families are being kept out of these lands for these reasons because the lands are being used by the Armed forces in this way,” he added.
Further questions were raised about the way the appropriated land was being used to benefit the Sinhalese community, and adding to the disenfranchisement of Tamils.
“At the expense of tens of thousands of Tamil families, persons of the majority community are being settled on these lands. Who are the members of the armed forces? The armed forces are almost exclusively Sinhalese. When they come into possession of these lands and when the Tamil civilians are permanently kept out, what will happen? These Armed forces will continue to occupy these lands, they will cultivate these lands, they will derive their livelihood from these lands and they will continue to live in the North and the East,” he said.
Sampanthan added,
“Is this not yet another way of settling the majority community people on lands which have belonged to Tamil civilians for generations and centuries on which they have lived, on which they have farmed, which they have cultivated, and making these lands available to the majority community?”
Highlighting the desecration of Hindu and Christian places of worship, the statement also asked questions about the erection of Buddhist shrines in areas of the North-East where there were no Sinhala Buddhist residents.
“I do not want my Sinhalese friends to misunderstand me. We all venerate Lord Buddha. But, they are coming up even in places where not one Sinhala Buddhist person lives. What is the purpose? Why is this being done? Lord Buddha's statue is being installed in various parts of the North and the East where the Sinhala Buddhist people do not live,” he said.
The TNA statement was made in parliament during a debate on the Prescription (Special Provisions Bill).
Highlighting that thousands of Tamil families lost their land to the Sri Lankan military in High Security Zone in the North-East, the TNA leader R Sampanthan, during a statement made in parliament on Thursday, asked if there was a ‘sinister’ motive to the appropriation of Tamil land.
Sampanthan said that the land appropriation in the eastern provinces was to break the linguistic continuity of the North-East, whilst highlighting that the Northern and Eastern provinces were historically Tamil areas, and insisting they must become one unit of devolution, with one provincial council. His statement further warned that there was a strategy to break up the ‘linguistic continuity’ of the North-East as part of the government plan to remove the need for a meaningful political solution for the Tamils.
He added that, though promises had been made by the Supreme Court to release these lands back to the Tamil people, the commitments had not been met and civilians were not able to resettle in their original lands.
Extracts reproduced below.
“There are tens of thousands of Tamil families in this position. Why is there no serious effort to address this issue? Despite all the protests and demonstrations that are taking place in the North and the East, despite the matter having been raised in Parliament on several occasions, why is this issue not being addressed seriously? Is this attitude of the Government not indicative of the Government having a sinister objective? I want to pose this question."
“All this is being done because you want to change the demographic composition of the North and the East and you want to change the cultural and linguistic identity of the districts in the North and the East. These things are being done with a definite purpose, the purpose being to change the demographic composition of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the cultural and linguistic identity of the Northern and Eastern Provinces so as to make a political resolution, a political solution irrelevant and unnecessary. That is the objective with which you are pursuing this agenda,” he later said in an answer to his question.
“What is the need for the High Security Zone? It is not necessary any longer. So, what is the purpose in the army continuing to occupy the land which was being held as a High Security Zone purely for security reasons against the LTTE and the LTTE's long range artillery? When the LTTE is not there, the long range artillery is not there, you are in complete control of all land, what is the need?”
“Trincomalee is the northern most district in the Eastern Province and Mullaitivu is the southern most district in the Northern Province. All these actions of the Government and persons who are working with the Government are concentrated largely in Mullaitivu and Trincomalee because you want to break the linguistic contiguity of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. That clearly shows that you are pursuing a definite sinister objective which cannot be permitted and this is why I say that these actions of yours have geopolitical and geo-strategic dimensions and there can be consequences which will not be to the benefit of this country.”
“A large number of houses, a large number of schools, a large number of temples within these lands have been destroyed. Some lands are possessed by the Army, some lands are possessed by the Navy. They have been used for purpose of occupation, for purpose of cultivation, for purpose of recreation and several other purposes. Tennis courts have come up on these lands, golf courses have come up on these lands, swimming pools have come up on these lands, luxury bungalows for occupation by security personnel have come up on these lands, lands on which our people lived and from which our people, farmers derived their livelihood. They have been taken over, they have been used in this way and tens of thousands of Tamil civilian families are being kept out of these lands for these reasons because the lands are being used by the Armed forces in this way,” he added.
Further questions were raised about the way the appropriated land was being used to benefit the Sinhalese community, and adding to the disenfranchisement of Tamils.
“At the expense of tens of thousands of Tamil families, persons of the majority community are being settled on these lands. Who are the members of the armed forces? The armed forces are almost exclusively Sinhalese. When they come into possession of these lands and when the Tamil civilians are permanently kept out, what will happen? These Armed forces will continue to occupy these lands, they will cultivate these lands, they will derive their livelihood from these lands and they will continue to live in the North and the East,” he said.
Sampanthan added,
“Is this not yet another way of settling the majority community people on lands which have belonged to Tamil civilians for generations and centuries on which they have lived, on which they have farmed, which they have cultivated, and making these lands available to the majority community?”
Highlighting the desecration of Hindu and Christian places of worship, the statement also asked questions about the erection of Buddhist shrines in areas of the North-East where there were no Sinhala Buddhist residents.
“I do not want my Sinhalese friends to misunderstand me. We all venerate Lord Buddha. But, they are coming up even in places where not one Sinhala Buddhist person lives. What is the purpose? Why is this being done? Lord Buddha's statue is being installed in various parts of the North and the East where the Sinhala Buddhist people do not live,” he said.
The TNA statement was made in parliament during a debate on the Prescription (Special Provisions Bill).