SL military chases Tamils out of farming land in Poththuvil, Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 October 2014, 22:16 GMT]
15 Tamil farmers who were clearing the agricultural lands at Oottuch-cheanai in Poththuvil of Ampaa’rai district were chased away by the occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who came from Oo'rani camp on Friday. The SLA soldiers have seized the tools used by the Tamil farmers, said T. Kalaiyarasan, a councillor from the Eastern Provincial Council. The Tamil councillor said the act by the SL military is just another example for how the civil affairs are being subjected to the control and command of the SL military. The Tamil people have been using the upper-lying lands of 100 acres for more than 60 years, he said.

Militarisation and deployment of the State mechanisms of Colombo go hand in hand in the demographic genocide against Eelam Tamils in Ampaa'rai, the Tamil councillor said.

The farmers were clearing the lands for the next season of agriculture on Friday.

Some of the farmers were also summoned to the SLA camp in Oo'rani and threatened by the SL military officers there, Tamil farmers from Oottuch-cheanai said.

Sri Lankan Forest Conservation Department from Colombo has been claiming 50 acres of the 100-acre farming land as ‘State land’, the farmers further said.