சனி, 20 ஜனவரி, 2018

Karuna paramilitary appropriates pastureland in Paduvaan-karai for electoral exploitation

Karuna paramilitary appropriates pastureland in Paduvaan-karai for electoral exploitation



Vinyagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, a paramilitary leader who has been collaborating with the Rajapaksa regime in the past, is again deploying violence and various intimidations, now against a section of dairy farmers from Chiththaa'ndi in Batticaloa district. In an attempt to woo voters for his political party from his native village of Kiraan, he is grabbing public and forest lands to convert these into agricultural lands for farmers, who had distanced from him since his betrayal to the Tamil cause in 2004. Paramilitary personnel carrying weapons have shot and killed cows belonging to Chiththaa'ndi farmers who are using the disputed area as pastureland for their cattle. 200 acres of lands have already been seized at Paalaik-kaaddu-veddai, which is situated close to Mayilaththamadu in Koa'ra'laip-pattu South division. 



The group is also going to clear nearby forest lands and convert it for agriculture with the backing of SL Forest Department, informed civil sources in Batticaloa said. An area of 150 acres of forest lands have been already demarcated for clearance. 



A section of dairy farmers from Chiththaa'ndi village, which is situated 21 km north of Batticaloa city, have been utilising the Paalaik-kaaddu-veddai as pastureland for a long time. They have also been struggling against Sinhala colonisation attempt in the recent past. 



Paalai-veddavaan is particularly significant to the cattle as it is the only place with water resource. The cattle from the pasturelands at Mayilaththa-madu also use to come here for water, the dairy farmers say. 



The goons of Karuna have set up traps to capture the cows during the night time. They have also shot and killed some cattle, one of the dairy farmers have complained to Vaazhaich-cheanai Police. The farmer lodged the complaint despite facing death threat from the group. Initially, the police were sympathetic to the farmer, but suddenly their attitude turned against him, says a representative of dairy farmers association implying that the gang had managed to influence the police. 



The gang is making money by selling the meat of the slain cattle, the representative further said. 



The group is also demanding the entire area for agricultural farmers from Kiraan and is threatening the dairy farmers from Chiththaa'ndi. 



In the meantime, the Divisional Secretary of Koa'ra'laip-pattu South said the disputed area was under the domain of SL Forest Department and that it was up to the department to resolve the dispute between the parties. The area was not officially gazetted as pastureland, but was used as pastureland by the local cattle herders, according to the DS. 



The Irrigation Department also has a stake as it was planning to renovate the water resource, the DS further said. 



The agriculture farmers from Kiraan also claim that they were doing agriculture in the area in the past. 



But, the dairy farmers denied their claim. After evicting Sinhala encroachers from the pastureland in Mayilaththa-madu, the dairy farmers are facing encroachment by their own, they said. 



Grazing lands Mailaththa-madu




After seizing the territory of Eezham Tamils from the LTTE in 2007, the Colombo-based SL State system was at full swing in seizing the lands and demarcating these as State Lands.



The lands were essential for the livelihood of Tamil residents for their farming activities. 



The three basic sources for the livelihood of the people in Batticaloa are agriculture, cattle farming and fishing. 



After 2009, Tamil people wanted to resettle in their native villages from which they were chased out during the times of war by the so-called Sinhala ‘home guards’ paramilitary operated by the occupying Sinhala military. 



But, their lands were being seized by the SL Forest Department, Wildlife Department, Archaeology Department, Mahaweli Department and other departments and institutions coming under the unitary state system of Colombo. 



Now, Karuna is trying to make political benefit using his SLFP contacts within the SL ministries in Colombo.





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Chronology:

SL Navy prepares Sinhala fisheries colony in Mullaiththeevu


SL Navy prepares Sinhala fisheries colony in Mullaiththeevu


The occupying Sinhala Navy has renovated 300 huts in Naayaa'ru in Karaithu'raip-pattu division for the use of encroaching Sinhala fishermen from South. The SL Ministry of Fisheries and the SL Fisheries Department are backing the influx of Sinhala fishermen from other provinces into Mullaiththeevu despite repeated requests from the native fisheries societies in the district not to create conditions for confrontations between the Tamil and the Sinhala fishermen, says S. Jeya, the chairman of the fisheries federation in the district. The intruding Sinhala fishermen were staying from January/February to September last year and were engaged in fishing along the entire coast of Karaithu'raippattu division and Naayaa’ru lagoon. 

Last year, the SL Fisheries Department in Colombo had given permits to a large number of boat owners, amounting to 72 boats, from outside the province last year. 

However, an overwhelming number of boats exceeding that figure had come from outside provinces and engaged in illegal fishing activities from Naayaa'ru to Mukaththuvaaram with the backing of SL Navy and the Sinhala police in 2017. The native fishermen federation says there were 377 boats from outside provinces and five to seven intruding fishermen were seen operating each boat throughout the 9 months. 

The majority of Sinhala fishermen and their families who had camped in Mukaththuvaaram went back to their villages after September last year. 

In the meantime, the Sinhala Navy was looking after their properties and huts for four months. 

The fisheries societies in Mullaiththeevu had requested the SL fisheries authorities not to renew the permits of the intruding fishermen from South. 

But, the first fishing vessel was spotted on 13th January entering Naayaa'ru without any permit, civil sources in Karaithu'raippatu said. 

The livelihood of war-affected Tamil fishermen in the division was completely shattered in recent years due to the influx of Sinhala fishermen from South. 

Apart from destroying the livelihood of native fishermen, the occupying fishermen were also causing massive destruction to the eco system and the coastal environment.


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Following video recorded on 18 April exposes the belligerent conduct of Sinhala colonists, who went to the extent of violent threat against the Tamil officials from Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat, Land Commission and Village Officers (GS) of Kokku’laay East and West, when they were instructed by the courts to conduct surveying of a disputed fishing vaadi area. 


A follow-up video recorded on 19 April, documents the reaction of Tamil families and their provincial councillor T. Ravikaran: 


“The countries that promoted SL State with giving more time and space at Geneva are complicit in the structural genocide against Eezham Tamils. You are all joining hands in destroying us. Tamils will be completely losing the coast of Mullaiththeevu within two years. The IC should not delay any further in bringing international justice,” Mr Ravikaran said in the video interview. 

Following video, which narrates the experience of a Tamil fisherman, was recorded in January 2017:





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Chronology:

More localities of village deities of Tamils to be Sinhalicised in Champoor region

More localities of village deities of Tamils to be Sinhalicised in Champoor region


Archaeology department officials of genocidal Sri Lanka who visited Maththa'la-malai at Choodaik-kudaa in Kooniththeevu for the first time on 12th January have also planned to seize at least three more locations where Tamil people have worshipped village deities for hundreds of years, a grassroots activist from Kooniththeevu told TamilNet on Tuesday. 

A high-ranking official from the SL Archaeology Department was among the crew that visited the site of disputed temple. The official was particularly interested in inspecting the ground which was levelled for the extension of the temple building. 

At the same time, the team was also visiting Nalla-tha'n'ni-pi'l'laiyaaradi, a nearby locality with a small hill-top with a natural water-source of potable water. A pi'l'liayaar temple is located at the place. They also visited Thoa'nik-kal, where a statue of Goddess Kaa'li had washed ashore several years ago. 

A third place visited by the Sinhala Archaeology team was Karadi-malai. It seems like they are going to declare all these hill-tops and places of worship for village deities of Eezham Tamils into Sinhala Theravada Buddhist “heritage” sites of archaeological significance, the activist further said.




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