Jaffna, Tamil protest against military and religious occupation
Tamil families in Thaiyiddy were displaced in 1990 by the military. An area of six acres is now home to the Tissa Vihara Buddhist temple. Despite the end of the civil war in 2009, locals have not seen their land returned. With the backing of the People's Alliance for Land Rights (PARL), they are speaking out against forced expropriation and demand justice.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – Tamil residents in Thaiyiddy (Jaffna) were the victims of a truly “unethical” expropriation after the military seized the area, displaced locals, and remained after the civil war ended in 2009.
“We don't want to fight and we still act peacefully. We need our lands without allowing for any further conflict,” said people who hold the deeds to the land at a press conference jointly organised with the People's Alliance for Land Rights (PARL) in Colombo on 20 March.
For years, Tamils in northern Sri Lanka have been protesting the illegal acquisition of their ancestral lands. A Buddhist temple, the Tissa Vihara, was built in 2018 on the site where a Hindu shrine once stood.
The construction raises fears that this is part of a plan to erase the local, mostly Tamil Hindu culture since Buddhism is not widespread in this part of the country.
Although the Sri Lankan Constitution gives priority to the protection and promotion of Buddhism, the new temple was built on six acres of private land without the consent of the owners or the approval of local authorities.
At the press conference, several owners of the disputed land expressed their point of view, seizing the opportunity offered by PARL, speaking about their own experiences, and directly addressing the southern media, which often misrepresents their struggle.
However, while Thaiyiddi residents recognise the historic value of the Tissa temple, they appeal to the new government, stressing that they were displaced and oppressed by the forced acquisition of their lands.
The current government, led by the National People's Power (NPP), has stated on several occasions that it recognises the rights of northerners to their lands. But, for this to become a reality, PARL calls on the government to recognise the owners’ land rights in accordance with the law and to prioritise their claim.
Sukumari Sarujan, a landowner, said a plaque on the temple states it was built entirely with military contribution. “How reasonable is it to grab land rightfully belonging to Tamil families and build a Buddhist Temple?” she told the press.
Another landowner, Ayyadore Ravindran, 70, who lived opposite the Tissa Viharaya, told the press that when they were displaced in 1990, there was a small temple in Thaiyiddi. In addition, taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Buddhist temple was extended in the area within the maximum security zone label.
A. Sureshkumar told the media that she has lived as a displaced person for 34 years. In October 1989 she obtained title to her land, which is now owned by the Sri Lankan military and the Tissa Temple.
“In front of my house, there is a Kovil (Hindu temple) but the access to it has been blocked by the Temple," she said, adding ed that while the temple authorities enjoy locals’ land, they had to live in rented houses, in precarious conditions. “It is not fair and we want back our lands,” he told the media.
PARL also calls for a formal investigation into the forced acquisition of land from residents in the north and the east to build a religious shrine and preserve archaeological sites.
They demand that steps be taken to restore the land to their rightful owner, and to ensure that such actions by the state or the military do not occur in the future.
Thaiyiddi residents who own the land say that they want to see their property rights restored, that their struggle in not against ethnic Sinhala or Buddhism; instead, the appeal to the people in the South not to view their demands as something racist.
"This country's law is functioning differently for Tamils and Sinhalese," lamented one participant at the Colombo conference. Everyone can be treated in the same way with a "constitutional change".
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24/07/2023 18:02
