Raghavan plans to distribute uncultivatable lands to Tamils to compensate for loss of fertile lands

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 October 2019, 19:16 GMT]
SL Governor to Northern Province Suren Raghavan has come up with another deceptive offer to the uprooted Eezham Tamil land-owners in Mullaiththeevu. Raghavan is planning to release some plots of saline and brackish soil along the coast as compensation for their fertile lands, which the SL State had seized from the Tamil land-owners under the so-called ‘Mahaweli’ L system, civil sources at Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat said. Suren Raghavan met the District Secretary and TNA Parliamentarian Mrs Shanthy Sriskandarajah at the District Secretariat in Mullaiththeevu on Wednesday. Mr Raghavan has proposed to de-gazette some plots that are retained under the System L. However, the plots coming under the planned release were only ‘tharavai’ lands, the officials said.

Tharavai in Eezham Tamil means an open wasteland, or wasteland of brackish soil, usually found overgrown with prostrate grasses and weeds.

The SL Governor was trying to project the move as a people-friendly initiative, but the exercise was a complete deception, the officials warned.

Raghavan is running the Northern Provincial Council system at the absence of the elected council.

In 1984, the occupying Sinhala military evicted the Tamil villagers from their interior lands. Later, the SL State’s Mahaweli’ Development’ ministry appropriated these fertile tracts bringing them under the Mahaweli L System.

The fertile lands with irrigation facilities have been transferred to Sinhala colonists.

However, the lands, where cultivation could only be done depending on rainfalls, are not used at the moment.

Chronology: