Why Is Land A Fundamental Issue To The Tamils?
Dr. K.Vigneswaran
President Jayewardene did not like the word ‘colonisation’. Instead, he preferred the terms ‘land settlement’. But the Land Settlement Ordinance uses ‘settlement’ to mean a settlement on claims over ‘land’. Item 18 of the Provincial Councils List of the 13th Amendment, reads as follows:
18. Land, – Land, that is to say, rights in or over land, land tenure, transfer and alienation of land, land use, land settlement, and land improvement, to the extent set out in Appendix II.
As against the above entry, let us have a look at what appears in item 18 of the State List of the Indian Constitution:
18. Land, that is to say, right in or over land, land tenures including the relationship of landlord and tenant, and the collection of rents, transfer and alienation of agricultural land, land improvement and agricultural loans; colonisations.
The terms “rights in or over land” would include the term “land settlement” as understood in the Land Settlement Ordinance of Sri Lanka. Hence the terms “land settlement” in item 18 of the Provincial Council List in the Sri Lankan Constitution must necessarily mean “colonisation” as given in item 18 of the State List of the Indian Constitution.
Such play with words are endemic throughout the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, indicating the want of Sri Lankan Governments’ will in devolving powers to the Tamils.
National Land Commission
Having understood the meaning of terms used in in item 18 of the Provincial Council List, let us go into the nuts and bolts of the subject of ‘land’ in the 13th Amendment. Proceeding from item 18, let us look at the Appendix II. This Appendix has three paragraphs. Let us first look at paragraph 3. It says that the Government should establish a ‘National Land Commission’ which would be responsible for the formulation of national land policy with regard to the use of State land and that the Commission should include representatives of all Provincial Councils. Needless to say that the Commission has to be established by an Act of Parliament.
The question then arises as to why this was this not done? Who now decides national policy? The answer to the second question is, the Minister of Lands in the Cabinet of Ministers or his bureaucracy in the Land Commissioner General’s Department.
The National Land Commission is required to have a Technical Secretariat representing all the relevant disciplines relating to land use to assist the National Land Commission. Such a Technical Secretariat has also not been established. The Land Use Committees functioning in the District Kachcheris cannot claim the statutory status to play the role of this Technical Secretariat.
Paragraph 3 goes on to state that in the exercise of powers devolved on them on ‘land’ the Provincial Councils shall give due regard to the national policy formulated by the National Land Commission. Since there is no National Land Commission, one must conclude that there is no national policy on land. Such a harsh conclusion is the main explanation for all the goings-on in respect of ‘land’ in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
