SL government appropriates Tamils’ lands in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 05:48 GMT]
Aaraiyampathi Social Development Organization (ASDO) in Batticaloa district alleged Sri Lanka Deputy Minister M. L. A. M Hisbulla of converting lands of the Tamils in Kaangkeayanoadai village into a Muslim village in the name of ‘The Village of Peace’ with funds from Iranian government. The foundation stone has been laid for this purpose without the knowledge of the Local Government Body (LGB) of the area and it is said that Muslim families of Kaaththaankudi are to be settled in the village to be built, T. Mahendran, the Secretary of ASDO said.

Meanwhile, Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, a minister in Sri Lanka government and the Chief Minister of Eastern Provincial Council, Sivaneasathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, both Tamils of Eastern Province, are assisting SL government authorities in the appropriation of the lands of the Tamils and giving them to Sinhala and Muslim people, Mahendran added.

‘The Village of Peace’ consisting 70 houses is to be constructed in the Tamil villages of Keechchaan Pa’l’lam, Ollikku’lam and Ma’nmunai which come under Aarayampathi LGB and located on the boundary of Kaaththaankudi, a traditional Muslim area.

The foundation stone for the village had been laid with the connivance of Kaaththaankudi Town Council and LGB without informing the Divisional Secretary on Aaraiyampathi.

Hisbulla, who had been the minister of Posts and Telecommunication in Chandrika Bandaranayake regime in 1994 had created a Muslim village appropriating the lands of the Tamils in Chelva Nakar in Aaraiyampathi, Mahendran said.

The Tamils who had opposed had been killed with the help of Special Task Force (STF) police commandos, he alleged.

The construction of The Village of Peace would create clashes between the Tamil and Muslim communities instead of creating peace, he added.

Appeals made to the Iranian Government, Sri Lanka ministers Hisbulla, Muralitharan, Chandrakanthan and government officials to stop the scheme immediately have been ignored, Mahendran said.