Colombo's Military Instructs Civil Officials Not to Voice Against Land Grab in Vanni

The British fort in question was attacked and the weapons there were seized by the last Tamil king of the Vanni, Pandara Vanniyan.

Mullaiththeevu refugees in the Vanni, May 2009.

(COLOMBO, Sri Lanka TamilNet) - The occupying Sri Lanka Army's 59-1 Brigade, which has taken over one third of the five acre land that belongs to Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat during the war, is refusing to relocate their base from the land situated in the town. Civil officials of the District Secretariat, which has been functioning without proper building, discovered that the land allocated for the new building of the DS has been encroached by the said brigade of the 51 infantry division of the SLA and that they are unable to put up new buildings to satisfy the civil need.

The officials of the occupying SLA say that they have not encroached the lands of the DS office and have threatened the civil officials who began to voice against the land grab, according to informed sources in the district secretariat.

While some officials of the District Secretariat do not want to raise their voice against the land grab, those who complained about the lack of space, have been threatened.

In the meantime, SLFP agents in Mullaiththeevu have sought the help of the DS officials to censor any information that could expose the SLA for having seized the lands of the DS.

The river, Chinna-Aa'ru, which runs near the also remains under the military control of the SLA, making it impossible for the Tamil families who were earlier dependent on prawn fishing in the river. At the same time, SL minister Rishard Badurdeen is planning to snatch away the river and the adjoining lands from the people of Vanni and bring in new settlers from South to engage in prawn farming.

Informed sources further said that the civil officials had come across remains of a British fort in the land belonging to the DS. Such remains also exist in the land appropriated by the SL military, they said.

The Britsh fort in question was attacked and the weapons there were seized by the last Tamil king of the Vanni, Pandara Vanniyan, who was killed in battle with British troops in 1803, according to the sources at the DS secretariat.

Special thanks to TamilNet

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=35321

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