People belonging to Murukkaiyadimunai village located at Vakarai, Batticaloa staged protest stating that their lives and livelihoods had been severely affected due to the appropriation of their lands by the Sri Lankan military.
Vakarai is a region which is located in the southwest of Batticaloa. This place has unique importance in the lives of Tamil people. The people of this area subsist on farming and fishing as their livelihoods. This is the place which was being a strategically importance place for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had been being as a major battle field since 1985.
Consequently, this area was captured by the Sri Lankan military through massacring the people belonging to this area. Even now the Sri Lankan military takes hold of the fertile and strategically important places of this area.
Murukaiyadimunai is one of these villages. People of this area expressed their strong opposition against the Military appropriation of their lands and they demanded the immediate release of their lands.
The majority of the participants of this protest are women. They demanded the immediate release of their lands in a strong voice though they are fragile in appearance.
These people were uprooted from their own lands following to the military operation in 2006. Many people were killed in this area owing to the attacks of Sri Lankan military.
Thus, the people of this area faced huge casualties. Many women of this area became widows due to the military operation.
When the people of this area returned to their lands in 2007, their lands had been seized and the lands taken over from the people by threatening them were being employed for military camps by the Sri Lankan military.
As Murukaiyadimunai is being occupied by the Sri Lankan military for 8 years, the people belonging to this village are staying at Uriyanpaddu. After uprooting them from their prosperous village, the people belonging to this village were settled in a place which is unsavory to the residential life, people accused.
Thus, about fifty families are directly affected. Many people, especially in the war affected widows are worse affected. Female head households face terrific economic hardship due to this.
The war affected widows have been catching fish in river as their livelihood.
Meanwhile, they demand the release of their village located at the vicinity of the river. They stated that it is very difficult for them to go to this river for fishing from Uriyankaddu.
Only through releasing their village which has fertile and marine resources, their livelihoods can be ensured; People belonging to Murukaiyadimunai village expressed this in aggressive tone.
The problems of these most unknown people have come out through their struggle. The problems of these war affected people who have been affected due to the land grabbing should be immediately settled. They should return to their ancestral place where they should lead their lives happily by uplifting their livelihoods.
People belonging to Murukaiyadimunai handed over the memorandum, which demands the actions of government to free the lands seized by the Sri Lankan military, to Vaharai Divisional Secretary S.Rakulanayaki.
Divisional Secretary stated that she would assure what sort of actions would be taken by immediately sending this memorandum to District Government Agent.
Tamil National People's Front leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam who participated in this protest commented that no justice has attained to the Vakarai people so far even five years past from the end of the war.
In addition, military employments of people’s land are unacceptable so that military should leave from there like what they agreed in Sampoor, he further added.
