Sinhalese forcibly take over paddy lands of Tamils in Thennaimaravadi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 November 2011, 03:38 GMT]
Some resettled Tamil farmers in Thennaimaravadi village were taken aback in the weekend to see their paddy lands they prepared for sowing for the forthcoming Maha cultivation had been sown by Sinhalese encroachers at the instance of the Sri Lanka Army stationed in the area. They fear this is a part of a covert plan by Colombo government to forcibly take over paddy lands in the traditional Tamil village Thennaimaravadi, located at the narrow boundary between Mullaiththeevu and Trincomalee districts that links the Northern and Eastern territories of the country of Eezham Tamils.

The encroachment of Sinhalese has been reported to the Kuchchave'li Divisional Secretary and to Provincial Land Authority by the resettled Tamil families promptly.

According to DS sources, Sinhalese villagers located close to Thennaimaravadi have been asked not to enter paddy fields of Tamils in the village for one week till the dispute is settled. Sinhalese encroachers claim that they have been doing cultivation in these lands as the entire Tamil community of Thennaimaravadi village had fled to elsewhere due to the conflict.

The village once flourished with paddy cultivation and animal husbandry has been slowly returning to normalcy with the return of some Tamil families uprooted due to conflict and military operation by the Sri Lanka Army since 1984.

Majority of uprooted Tamil families are still residing at Ponnakar, a settlement put up by them at Mu'l'liyava'lai in Mullaiththeevu district waiting for their turn to resettle in their lands in Thennaimaravadi.

Thennaimaravadi, located strategically between the north and eastern province borders was the scene of intense colonization activity in 1984 by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in a planned attempt to drive a wedge in the contiguity of Tamil presence across the provincial borders. 

Thennaimaravadi was the first Tamil village completely displaced in the Trincomalee district following the SL state sponsored Black July pogroms in 1983. At that time more than two hundred Tamil families were living in the village.

Several new Sinhala settlements, Padavi Siripura, Sri Tissapura, Samanpura, Gemunupura and Sinhapura, were established in state lands in the north of Trincomalee district located close to Thennaimaravadi village thus making the Tamil population a minority in the area.

Hundreds of families fled when soldiers of the Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka Army assisted by Sinhala home guards entered into Thennaimaravadi on 1st December 1984, from the nearby “Sinhapura,” (meaning the town of the Lion) one of the new Sinhala settlements which is located close to the Thennaimaravadi village under the state aided colonization scheme after the British left the island.

Five Tamil villagers were shot and killed by SL army soldiers and Sinhala homeguards 
 on 01 December 1984, the first day of the attack. Immediately, rest of the village fled into the jungles to save their lives. When they returned to their homes the SL soldiers rounded them up and opened fire. At least thirteen Tamil villagers were shot dead by the army and home guards.

On December 4, hundreds of families who fled towards the jungle for the second time, started their journey with available belongings leaving their cattle and other properties in their homes towards Mullaith-theevu district.

On their way, they reached Akkaraive'li, Koddakea'ni Pi'l'laiyaar Koayil, Kokkuth-thoduvaay and finally reached Mu'l'liyava'lai, where they put up huts and named it “Ponnakar”.

Even now, Thennaimaravadi displaced families live at “Ponnakar” in Mu'l'liyava'lai awaiting the day of resettlement in their own village, displaced Tamil sources said.