Intense protest in Mullaiththeevu against SL Navy base blocks surveying for 3rd time

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 February 2018, 21:05 GMT]
The people of Vadduvaakal staged an intensive protest for more than 6 hours in front of the so-called ‘SLNS Gotabhaya’ navy base in Mullaiththeevu on Thursday. The move came as the SL Survey Department officials were attempting to measure 671 acres of lands, which the SL Navy has seized from the public several years ago. The SL State was trying to legalise the illegal land grab through a Gazette notification in August 2017. The people accompanied by their politicians managed to stop the surveying for the 3rd time. They also burnt an effigy representing the so-called ‘good governance’ regime in Colombo in front of the SL navy base.



The protesters said the land seized by the SL Navy was containing crucial evidence and traces of genocidal onslaught against Eezham Tamils from the last hours of the war in May 2009. Some also believe that the SL Navy is having a secret detention camp and a torture chamber inside the naval base.

As the protesters blocked the surveying department officials from entering the naval base through the front entrance, the SL Navy was taking them through a different route.

The protest took an intense form blocking the traffic along the Vadduvaakal bridge and demanding the District Secretary (SL Government Agent) to stop the surveying and assure in writing that the matter would be taken up in the forthcoming District Development Committee meeting passing a resolution against the seizure.

The Additional District Secretary was struggling to provide such an assurance.



In the meantime, SL Navy and SL Police started to harass the protesters by taking photos of the participants in an intimidating manner, and a hostile situation prevailed as the protesters blocked all traffic across Vadduvaakal Bridge for hours.

Later, the Additional District Secretary yielded to the pressure of the protesters giving a written assurance on taking up the concerns of the protesters.

Former Tamil parliamentarians, provincial councillors, TNA, TNPF politicians, grassroots and religious leaders were also present expressing solidarity with the protesters.



The ‘SLNS Gotabaya’ comes under the so-called Eastern Naval Area of the SL Navy Command, which has its central command at Trincomalee.

It was initially launched as a Naval Deployment (ND) in January 2011 and later upgraded as a Commissioned Naval Base (CNB) with the title ‘Sri Lanka Naval Ship Gotabhaya’ in 2012.

SLNS Gotabhaya has transformed into a ‘Regional Security Center’ of the SL Navy, monitoring the coastal belt of Mullaiththeevu.

Several naval detachments connected to ‘Gotabhaya’ are functioning in areas subjected to demographic and structural genocide in Naayaa'ru and Kokku'laay areas of Karai-thu'raip-pattu division.



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28.09.17   Colombo rushes ahead with military land grab of Mu'l'livaayk..
03.08.16   Eezham Tamils in Mullaiththeevu protest against expansion of..
03.06.16   Colombo beefs up naval installations along eastern coast


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