The Sri Lanka army must return all the land seized from the Tamils in the ethnic-Tamil dominated north without any further delay, Leader of Opposition R. Sampanthan has said.
He said the minority community was unhappy with the non-release of land belonging to them.
DNA reported Sampantha as saying during an adjournment motion in Parliament: “This cannot continue. This must come to an end. Your government must realise it; your President must realise it; your Prime Minister must realise it. We are getting bitter ourselves. Let me tell you very frankly, I am extremely unhappy about the way the Government is treating our people on the question of land.”
“Our land must be returned to them. That is our right; that is our birthright. You cannot hold back from doing that. That must be done,” he said.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera responded saying the military has been instructed to prepare a timeline for the release of lands.
“Since October 2015 over 2,400 acres of civilian owned lands held for military purposes have been released while another 4,100 acres remaining to be released,” Samaraweera said.
Commenting on the current constitutional process and the Tamil struggle for political autonomy, Sampanthan recalled various statements made by Indian leaders and the Indian backing of the Tamils for a negotiated settlement to the issue.
“I desire, Sir, to place these matters on record because, I think, the country should know that we have gone through a long process even with our neighbhour India playing a vital role over several years to resolve this issue and that we have not yet reached our goal, which has been finding an acceptable political solution within the framework of a united, undivided, indivisible Sri Lanka,” Sampanthan said.
India has firmly reiterated her commitment to the unity territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, but with the full implementation of the 13th Amendment building on it so as to achieve meaningful devolution of power to enable the people of the North and the East, the Tamil speaking people to live with dignity and self-respect and be in a position to control their own destiny in regard to matters of vital concern to them in the area in which they live.
Sampanthan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while he was in Sri Lanka in March 2015, had said Lanka's progress and prosperity are also a source of strength for India.
“What more do you want? Prime Minister of India comes to Sri Lanka and he addresses our Parliament and this is what he says on this question of a political solution,” Sampanthan said.
He said his party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was prepared “to resolve the matter within the framework of a united, undivided, indivisible Sri Lanka on the basis of our self-respect and dignity being restored”.
Tamils are demanding the release of their lands held for military purposes throughout the 35-year civil war which ended in 2009. Since 2015 the government has released such lands periodically as its moves to achieve national reconciliation.
