Ezhuka Tamil: The New Reality – No Threat To Anyone

BY Mirudhula Thambiah-2016-10-18

Vanni District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian Dr. Sivapragasam Sivamohan commenting on preschools functioning under the Civil Security Force said, "Preschools in the North should fall under the purview of Northern Provincial Council. There are statutory provisions that further prove my argument."

However, Dr. Sivamohan went on to say, "We must agree to see the positive side too. The many females who have been recruited by the Civil Security Division to teach in preschools are paid a good salary, when preschool teachers in our regions are just given Rs 4,000 starting salary and have not received a salary increment in a long time."
Following are excerpts of the interview:

?: You have continuously protested against illegal colonization in the Mullaitivu District, what exactly is the current situation?
A: Illegal colonization is mainly carried out in and around the Mahaweli L-Zone in the Mullaitivu District. Kokkilai, Kokkuthoduvai and Weli Oya are the important villages that fall under the Mahaweli L-Zone. Most of the illegal planned colonization is in these villages. This colonization is being planned and implemented in a very secret and tactful manner.

This is very similar to how Israel established colonies in Palestinian territory. It is taking place in a slow manner so that it is invisible and hard to identify. The Mahaweli L- Zone falls under the purview of the Mahaweli Development Authority. So, the impression is that any village that falls under the L-Zone shall be under the purview of the Mahaweli Development Authority. So the authority will distribute lands in the L-Zone only to those who come from the South but not to those who have been already living in those villages from their ancestral days.

Illegal colonization has thoroughly affected the border villages of Mullaitivu and Vavuniya Districts. The land powers of the Northern Provincial Council have been overrun by the Mahaweli Development Authority. Therefore, the Northern Provincial Council is not in a position to be directly involved in this matter.
Apparently a Law has been passed in Parliament to hand over land powers of L-Zone to the Mahaweli Authority. Illegal colonization around and within the L-Zone is one of the biggest issues in the Mullaitivu District.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa distributed the lands in the Mahaweli L-Zone according to permits. However, there are land owners who already had permits and they are actual owners. I'm not only talking on behalf of the Tamil people who are original land owners but also the Sinhala people who had ancestral lands in the area.

I am on the Weli Oya Divisional Coordinating Committee, when I examined the land issues I was very keen that the original lands of Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala owners should be given back to them. There were 60 Sinhala families, in the Weli Oya Division, who complained to us that their ancestral lands are no longer available to them to settle back in. They complained that their lands were grabbed by the previous regime on political motives and was again passed over to other Sinhalese who came from other divisions and villages. They requested us to solve their land issue. Accordingly, the Mahaweli L Zone director who was present at the meeting agreed to hand over their lands; why cannot they assist the Tamil families as well?
Authorities must understand that these lands are being distributed to people from other districts and especially to those who have served prison sentences.

?: Do you think the militarization and land acquisition activities in the Mullaitivu District have comparatively reduced under the current regime?
A: We have protested against it, however, it keeps continuing and we are not in a position to find a proper solution in the Mullaitivu District. During the end of war in 2009 all people in the Mullaitivu District were taken to Chettikulam Welfare Centre. As the people were taken to the Chettikulam Camp, the military who walked into the lands of the people arbitrarily settled on those lands. However, now it is seven years since the end of war and the military is still not in a mindset to realize that they have captured the lands of the people and they are bound to release them for the use of the people.

Definitely they have captured other lands as well, but they can always release the lands of the people. They have even captured lands that belong to schools and those that belong to Divisional Secretariats. They have captured around 1,800 acres in Vattuvaikal in the Mullaitivu District and have begun to fence the land. This is purely a military action.

If they can capture the lands of the innocent civilians, fence them for their own purposes, and if the people are unable to question from the authorities, I don't see any good governance at this juncture.

We have protested so many times since the year 2011, but the land issues have not been solved. There are many other places including Nayaru, Kokkilai and Kokkuthoduvai villages in the Mullativu District that is under the control of the military.
When we protest, the military promises to release the lands but those are just fake promises. However, they are not ready to vacate the lands.

?: You being a medical doctor, tell us the progress of the medical camps set up for former LTTE cadres in the Northern Province. Do you think those allegations of injecting cancerous chemicals are true?
A: The Northern Provincial Council has taken up the responsibility to establish medical camps for former LTTE cadres. I believe the Northern Provincial Council will release the results of the medical examinations. If there are any suspicious results we may appeal to international experts to carry out fresh examinations. We are awaiting the results.

There have been many former cadres who told us that suspicious chemicals were injected to them during the rehabilitation process. Until medical examinations are over we are not in a position to talk further on this issue.

?: You agreed that there have been Sinhala colonies since ancestral times in the Mullaitivu District, if so, why do Tamil politicians create a huge fuss about erecting Buddhist monuments in certain areas? What exactly is the current situation?
A: We are very clear on this issue. If a group of people belonging to certain religions reside in a particular village, they have all the right to build their place of worship.

If Hindus live in a specific village, they will put up a Hindu temple to practice their rituals. Similarly Buddhists, Christians and Muslims would do and it is their right. We cannot oppose their right to worship. But the problem in the building of Buddhist monuments is totally different. The issue is that some Buddhist priests build up religious monuments in areas where a large number of Hindus live with the assistance of the military, and the people cannot oppose it.
Already the military is involved in illegal activities like capturing lands of the civilians and the priests make use of it to build Buddhist temples and monuments; and we cannot clearly accept such attempts.

We will always support if there is a large number of Buddhists living in that specific area and the priests have put up Buddhist temples. It is a must that there should be such monuments and it is their right. But here the rights of the community that existed for several years are infringed. These are forceful activities, for example where a similar incident took place in Kokkilai. It is a popular incident that the land belongs to private persons and there were legal actions carried out against the Buddhist monk who built the temple. However, despite injunction orders it was built and nobody was ready to question the legality of the activity.
Also it should be noted that the Sinhala community living in the Kokkilai area are fishing communities and a large number of them are Christians. In such an instance if they had built a church we will not oppose it, however the situation is quite opposite. Therefore building up the biggest Viharaya in the Northern Province for just two to three Buddhist families is unacceptable.

Same has happened in Mankulam, where one of the biggest Buddhist statues has been constructed when there are no many Buddhist families in the area.
Therefore, we are quite clear that we are not at all against the Buddhists or building Buddhist monuments for the correct purposes.

?: Recently Vanni District Parliamentarians of your party raised questions in Parliament on the number of preschools being operated under the purview of the Civil Security Division. What exactly is the current situation?
A: This is one of the main issues in the Mullaitivu District. So the Civil Security Division recruits people to handle the preschools and under them preschool children are being educated.

The basic knowledge is that preschools in the North will fall under the purview of the Northern Provincial Council. There are statutory provisions that further prove my argument.
However, the Civil Security Division (CSD) has recruited females to teach at preschools and they have been provided a good salary. The Civil Security Division has distributed T-shirts to the children with their CSD emblem which we feel is unnecessary. If they are operating for a good cause why should they publicize it?
However, we must agree on the positive side that many females who have been recruited by the Civil Security Division to teach in preschools are given a good salary. When our preschool teachers in our regions are just given Rs 4,000 as starting salary and have not received a salary increment in a long period.

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