7 DS officials under pressure to collaborate with Sinhala colonisation schemes in Batticaloa

High ranking Sinhala officials of the SL Presidential Secretariat of occupying Colombo, who are led by former SL Governor of East Austin Fernando and the officials from the office of Rohitha Bogollagama, the present Governor of the East, are systematically harassing Tamil Divisional Secretaries of seven of the fourteen administrative divisions of the Batticaloa district. Informed civil sources at the District Secretariat said the former and present Sinhala governors do not want the Tamil DS officers to oppose the plans of the extremist Sinhala Theravada Buddhist monk Ampitiye Sumanarathana thero. 

SL Ministry of Public Administration and Management in Colombo and the Land Commission office of Eastern Province are also tightly coordinated by the present and former governors, the sources further said. 

The monk, who has gone against the DS officers also in the past, is pushing hard to bring Sinhala colonists into the interior Tamil villages, situated along the border of Batticaloa district. 

The extremist monk, who was also one of the key personalities behind the recent anti-Muslim pogrom, is also exerting pressure on the Tamil officials to collaborate with him to add the names of Sinhala colonists to the electoral registers, the sources at the District Secretariat said. 

The monk wants the DS officials to collaborate with his plans since they have a crucial role under the present system when it comes to land-related issues, they said. 

The seven DS officials belong to the administrative divisions of Koa'ra'laip-pattu North (Vaakarai), Koa'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan), Ea'raavoor-pattu (Chengkaladi), Poara-theevup-pattu (Vellaa-ve'li), Ma'nmunaip-pattu South (Paddippazhai) and Vavu'na-theevu. 

Ampitiye Sumanarathana thero is the chief incumbent of the Sri Mangalaramaya Vihara located in the city of Batticaloa.