Thenmaradchchi displaced hold sit-in-protest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 June 2005, 15:35 GMT]
Large number of displaced persons in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district Saturday morning held a one-hour sit-in-protest in front of the 55 Brigade Sri Lanka Army camp located in Mirusuvil Asaipillaiyettam demanding to vacate their houses and agricultural lands. SLA has been occupying many houses in areas demarcated as high security zones. The sit-in protest blocked the traffic on A 9 Jaffna Kandy for about an hour, sources said.





The protesters marched from Mirusuvil Roman Catholic School via Kandy Road to the 55 Brigade of the SLA. Jaffna district parliamentarians Messrs N.Raviraj, K.Sivanesan and Padmini Sithamparanathan and representatives of several civil groups of the division also participated in the demonstration, sources said

Protestors shouted slogans and carried placards demanding that their lands and agricultural lands should be returned to them by the SLA without any further delay. They shouted, " We want our lands and houses," sources said.

The sit-in-protest concluded around 12.30 p.m. with the handing over of a memorandum by the Thenmaradchchi Displaced Welfare Association to Major Rohan of the 55 Brigade of the SLA, sources said.