Kevu'liyaamadu encroached by Sinhalese, Tamil farmer attacked

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2011, 10:39 GMT]
Sinhalese encroachers, who have occupied the grazing lands of in the border of Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai districts, have attacked and broke the hand of a 40-year-old Tamil farmer who took his cattle for grazing lands allocated for the purpose at Thevu'laala-ku'lam in Paddippazhai DS division in Batticaloa district on December 07. The injured farmer, Thiayagarajah Moothavan, who has been admitted at the Gonakelle hospital in Ampaa'rai general hospital, complained that a ten member gang attacked him when he was taking cattle to grazing land allocated for the Batticaloa dairy farmers. 480 Sinhalese families had encroached high lands and paddy lands owned by Tamil families in Suvaamimalai and Kevu'liyaamadu in Paddipazhai DS division. Meanwhile, Muslim farmers facing competition by the Sinhalese in Ampaa'rai district are also encroaching the lands of Tamils in Batticaloa.

Colombo has encouraged Sinhalese to encroach and do cultivation in the graze lands of Batticaloa bordering the Ampaa'rai district.

Since then encroachers chase away Tamil dairy farmers who bring cattle for grazing.

Encroachers also kill cattle by shooting. Tamil farmers complain that about 30 heads of cattle have been slain by the encroachers recently.

In the meantime, Muslim dairy farmers in Chammaathu'rai and Akkaraip-pattu in Ampaa'rai district also send their cattle for grazing in Batticaloa district instead of using the grazing lands allocated for them in Kagnchi-kudichchaa'ru, Poththuvil, Uhana and Paa'nama.