Colombo rushes ahead with military land grab of Mu'l'livaaykkaal

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 September 2017, 23:13 GMT]

671 acres of residential, coastal and agricultural lands in Mu'l'livaaykkaal East GS division in Mullaiththeevu, containing crucial evidences and traces of genocidal onslaught against Eezham Tamils, are now being ‘officially’ appropriated by Colombo citing ‘public purpose’. The appropriation planned under Rajapaksa regime is being carried out by Maithiripala-Wickramasinghe regime. The lands have already been seized and fenced off by the SL military for years since 2009. Now these lands are being ‘legally’ transferred to the occupying Sinhala Navy for its largest navy cantonment in Mullaiththeevu named ‘SLNS Gotabhaya’. An extraordinary Gazette notice issued by SL Minister of ‘Lands and Parliamentary Reforms’ on August 04, 2017, only talks about ‘public purpose’ without mentioning the military purpose. 

‘SLNS Gotabhaya’ at Mu'l'livaaykkaal

Gazette notification announcing the seizure of Mu'l'livaaykkaal lands

‘Eastern Naval Area’ as defined by the occupying SL Navy [Image courtesy: navy.lk]

There are 13 so-called ‘Commissioned Navy Bases’ in the Eastern Naval Area of the SL Navy [Image courtesy: navy.lk]

‘Mahaweli Master plan’ currently targeting Mullaiththeevu, Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai through System L and System B [Image courtesy:mahaweli.gov.lk]

However the Divisional Secretary of Karai-thu'raip-pattu division has been instructed to issue a separate notice citing the purpose as ‘national security’, civil officials in Mullaiththeevu said. 

The ‘public purpose’ clause is widely misused to appropriate lands for the occupying Sinhala military in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils. 

Eezham Tamils have never surrendered the sovereignty of their traditional homeland to genocidal Sri Lanka through any democratic process of State formation. Neither did Eezham Tamils surrender their sovereignty while facing the genocidal war abetted by world Establishments. 

Occupying Colombo is now rushing through all land appropriations before proceeding further with its constitutional discourse. 

The Gazette notification of land acquisition in Mu'l'livyakkaal war issued by Gayantha Karunatilake,
 Gayantha Karunatilake, the SL Minister of “Lands and Parliamentary Reforms”. 

The latest acquisition affects 379 acres of private landowners in Mu'l'livaaykkaal. 

The fishing jetty at Mu'l'livaaykkaal has also been absorbed by the SL military seizure. 

The militarization of Mu'l'livaaykkaal should also be seen together with the Sinhalicisation that has taken place in Ma'nal-aa'ru and from Kokku'laay to Mukaththuvaaram in Mullaiththeevu. 

The uprooted people have been struggling demanding their residential, agricultural and coastal lands in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, including their jetty. 

In the meantime, SL military commander Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake has brushed away accusations that 150,000 Sinhala army soldiers are stationed in North. After meeting the hard-line Theravada Buddhist prelate of Asgiriya chapter, the SL commander also justified the militarization in the North and stated there would be no reduction of the military. Senanyake was also saying that the number of soldiers stationed in the North was a matter subjected to careful calculations and that there is no need for any explanation as the UN Human Rights mechanism was already aware of the stand of the SL military on the matter. 

Now, the SL military commander is even citing the UN Human Rights Council for continued militarization of Tamil homeland, commented Tamil civil officials in Mullaiththeevu. 

The declaration that a land or a servitude is required for a ‘public purpose’, under the so-called ‘Land Acquisition Act (Chapter 460) is given under Section 5 as follows: 

1. Where the Minister decides under subsection (5) of section 4 that a particular land or servitude should be acquired under this Act, he shall make a written declaration that such land or servitude is needed for a public purpose and will be acquired under this Act, and shall direct the acquiring officer of the district in which the land which is to be acquired or over which the servitude is to be acquired is situated to cause such declaration in the Sinhala, Tamil and English languages to be published in the Gazette and exhibited in some conspicuous places on or near that land.
   
2. A declaration made under subsection (1) in respect of any land or servitude shall be conclusive evidence that such land or servitude is needed for a public purpose.
   
3. The publication of a declaration under subsection (1) in the Gazette shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that such declaration was duly made.

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