Western, Indian housing schemes used as trump card to weaken uprooted people’s struggle
The poverty-stricken uprooted Tamils from Valikaamam North in Jaffna,
residing in more than 34 so-called welfare camps for three decades, are
now being lured into buying alternative lands outside their
military-occupied villages. Administrative officials deployed by
occupying Colombo are giving an ultimatum that if the familes were to
‘qualify’ for housing schemes funded by India, Norway, Switzerland and
the EU, they should buy lands elsewhere without delay. The housing
schemes would disappear if the beneficiaries were to wait for their
original lands to be released by the SL military, the families are being
told. The western countries and India, that intentionally avoided
demanding de-militarisation of the North-East in the post-war human
rights discourse staged in Geneva, seem to be interested in grooming the
hostile Sinhala military along the coast of Eezham Tamils in the
North-East.
The Indian government in particular, is also risking its security in the
long run by abetting the Colombo establishment to continue its Sinhala
militarisation of the entire coast of North-East, Tamil political
observers in Jaffna said.
The District Secretariat in Jaffna has
already convinced 113 recipients to buy lands outside their coastal
villages. The families are being encouraged to buy lands near the
locations where they have been residing for the last 3 decades.
Many
of these 113 recipients have no ownership documents for their original
lands in Valikaamam North, the officials at District Secretariat
explained. 55 of the recipients have already confirmed the alternative
land provision, they added.
However, the Tamil officials
admitted that the current project, based on instructions from Colombo,
was also aimed at convincing those who own lands inside the military
occupied zone to opt for alternative lands in the next phase.
In
the meantime, the people who have moved into lands released in
Mayiliddi complain that there are no coastal access roads to their
houses. They are being structurally and culturally discouraged to live
in the released area.
The lifestyle being demonstrated by
Sinhala visitors from South and SL military personnel residing at the
‘resorts’ that are visible from the households of the resetted families
cause culture shock to their children and the youth in a negative sense,
the resettled families in Mayiliddi complain. Therefore,
de-militarisation of the remaining areas is crucial if the way of life
of native people was to be restored with dignity, they say.
Meanwhile,
uprooted fishermen from Palaali who have recently moved into their
village said it was critical for them to get their school released. They
have gained access to their coastal road.
“We want our school
back. We have to get our children to Achchuveali from Palaali in private
vehicles. The school at Palaali East is still under military control.
Before we were uprooted, there was a government school with 13 teachers
and classes up to G.C.E (O/L),” a fisherman from Palaali told TamilNet.
“The government has not even arranged a school bus service,” he said.
“The
lands up to Palaali Junction should be released. The people who have no
boats or engines should be utilised with their own engines and boats so
that no one among the resettled fishermen need to be depended on daily
wage earnings. It is not possible to ensure the livelihood of the family
through daily-wage work anymore,” the fisherman from Palaali further
said.
“We have coastal road access from Palaali to
Tho’ndai-maan-aa’ru. But, Mayiliddi people have to travel 20 to 30
kilometres through cumbersome one-way road to reach their released
lands,” he said.
In the meantime, resettled people also
complained that some of the resettled families were being lured into to
sell their lands to the occupying military, particularly in Maathakal
and Mayiliddi.
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