Colombo steps up Sinhala militarisation of Jaffna through ‘development’ camouflage
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 February 2016, 23:19 GMT]
Colombo regime of Maithiripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe is silently continuing with the agenda of permanently seizing the military-occupied red-soiled fertile lands and the coastal strip with most resourceful fish beds stretching 12 km in Valikaamam region of Jaffna peninsuala. According to the drawings finalised by survey officials of the Sri Lankan State on 18 November, 2015, the lands belonging to 1,475 Eezham Tamils are to be permanently seized under the pretext of ‘development’ of Palaali air base. UNP agents in Jaffna have been deployed to ‘convince’ the organisations through promising compensations, the representatives of uprooted people in Valikaamam North told TamilNet on Tuesday.
A survey plan labelled PPA 1579 identifies the private properties of 685 people. Another plan labelled YA/A/85/08 identifies 790 people. Providing this new ‘development’ explanation to the organisations representing the uprooted Eezham Tamils from Valikaamam in Jaffna, the Colombo regime of the unitary State of ‘Sri Lanka’ is facilitating the sinister move to permanently cut off the coastal areas currently occupied by the SL military from the resettling people. The people from Kaangkeasan-thu'rai (KKS), Thaiyiddi and Mayiliddi, who have been uprooted from their lands and villages for 26 years, are now forced to confront yet another phase of sophisticated militarisation being enacted through Colombo-centric ‘development’, which is carried out with the blessings of the West. The SL military has been reluctant to allow the people to use Palaali Road within the former ‘High Security Zone’ area, which it wants converted into a ‘Sinhala Military Zone’ on a permanent basis. The uprooted people from the ancient village of Maiyiliddi question why their coastal stretch and jetty are being occupied while there is KKS harbour situated just 5 km away from their village. The occupying Sinhala military is running a military corporate in the lands that have been seized. From agriculture farms to dairy products and hotell operations come under the military corporatism.
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