UN, Western governments fund genocidal Sinhala militarisation of Vanni
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 April 2017, 18:57 GMT]
After deceiving Eezham Tamils on international investigations, the UN, its development agencies and the western governments that talk about post-conflict ‘reconciliation’ and ‘development’ without resolving the conflict, have now gone to the extent of deploying their funds to sustain the genocidal Sinhala military occupation of Vanni. Millions of rupees, channelled through the SL Resettlement Ministry in Colombo to the SL Defence Ministry are being deployed by the occupying military to buy out the lands belonging to uprooted Tamils in Keappaa-pulavu in Mullaiththeevu district, where uprooted Tamils have been continuously fighting for more than two months now. It now transpires that a two-storied resort has been built inside the military-seized lands at Keappaa-pulavu. The SL Air Force is constructing a Buddhist vihara to defend the case for continued Sinhala militarisation.
The SL military has approached Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat officials this week to negotiate a buy-out deal attached with ultimatums.
The resort has been built at the cost of 150 crores of rupees, the Tamil officials told TamilNet on condition of anonymity.
The genocidal military is demanding an all-together buy out of the lands of 112.5 acres if the people agree to opt for 249 acres of jungle lands in addition to 30 acres of residential lands.
138 uprooted families from Keappaa-pulavu have been fighting to liberate 482 acres of their lands at Keappaa-pulavu. They have land-deeds for 142.5 acres of lands.
While the families demand their original 482 acres of fertile lands with access to their lagoon and livelihood, the SL military is proposing to compensate the extent of lands with 279 acres of lands and a military-constructed ‘housing scheme’. Those having land deeds for 142.5 acres will get 30 acres of their original lands. The remaining 112.5 acres will be allocated in the jungle area with an offer of housing scheme. But, to ‘qualify’ as ‘beneficiaries’ all the landowners having land deeds to legally transfer their lands to SL Air Force, was the ultimatum given to the people. A ‘lucrative sum of money’ could also be allocated to each family, the military dealers have proposed to the Tamil civil officials.
A large playground has been already constructed near the military resort. Sinhala visitors from South are the exclusive guests of the resort inside the military base. These visitors are entering the military cantonment through the same gates where Tamil people are waging their protest, NPC Councillor Thurairasa Ravikaran told TamilNet on Tuesday.
“The injustices being committed by the UN and the foreign governments cannot be tolerated, forgiven or forgotten by the Tamils,” Mr Ravikaran said.
Coming with a strongly worded reaction, Mr Thurarairasa Ravikaran urged Tamil journalists and activists to get to the bottom of the matter and to “expose the foreign and local culprits to the global Tamils and to the world community of conscience”.
“This is a humiliating attack on the territorial integrity of Eezham Tamils. This part of the soil was soaked in Tamil blood in 2009. But, it is now we are losing the territory in all fronts in Karai-thu’raip-pattu division,” Ravikaran further said.
The locality of Keappaapulavu and the former airstrip of the LTTE
In the meantime, a source close to SL Resettlement Minister S.M. Swaminathan was trying to give a different ‘explanation’.
The source said that the transfer of money to SL Defence Ministry was originally intended to get the SL military to buy lands elsewhere and relocate itself. But, the SL military was acting on its own to deprive the people of their lands deploying the funds.
The existence of a military resort inside Keappaa-pulavu has not been revealed to Tamils.
SL military is running resorts at KKS in Jaffna, at the old Dutch Fort off Kaarai-nakar island and in Vadamaraadchi East in lands belonging to bird sanctuary.
While the target group of star-rated resorts are international tourists including the Tamil diaspora visitors, the resorts inside military zone cater exclusively to Sinhala Buddhist visitors from South.
Occupying SL Army's tourist resort bearing Sinhala name 'Thalsevena' (meaning Palmyra Shade) at Kaangkeasan-thu'rai in Jaffna is located at lands seized from Tamils.
SL Navy stationed at Kaarai-nakar island in Jaffna operates a resort at the old Dutch Fort situated in a tiny islet off Kaarai-nakar
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