posted June 21, 2001 04:09 AM         

http://www.tamils.com/reports/colon.html

By: V.Thangavelu

There is no doubt President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Sinhalese dominated government has cause for celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Gal Oya scheme which could easily be described as the single most ‘accomplishment’ of the successive Sinhalese governments since independence in 1948.
Not withstanding the fact as to which party was in the seat of power, the state sponsored colonization of the Tamil traditional homeland had gone on with a religious fervor and commitment unparalleled in the annals of the country’s history. This was evident during the Golden Jubilee celebrations when both Anurudda Ratwatte, Minister for Irrigation and Power and Deputy Minister of Defense and Ranil Wickramasinghe, Leader of the opposition United National Party standing at the opposite poles of the political spectrum sharing the same platform at Amparai.

2. Gal Oya Colonization Scheme

Gal Oya (originally called Paddippalai Aru in Tamil) is only one among several state-sponsored colonization schemes launched by Don Stephen Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon. He for all intents and purposes was the master-mind responsible for opening the flood-gates of Sinhalese colonization in traditional Tamil homelands. There were numerous others like the Allai –Kantalai and Yan Oya colonization schemes in the Trincomalee district, Maduru Oya in the Batticaloa district and Weli Oya (Manal Aru) in the Mullaitivu district. These state-aided and funded Sinhalese colonization had transformed the demographic composition of the North and Eastern provinces drastically. Although it was claimed that these schemes were meant to provide lands to landless Sinhalese peasants in the South, not a single Hill Country Tamil was given any land in the North and East at any time.

Before the ink could dry on the Independence Act conferring Dominion Status to Ceylon, D.S. Senanayake like a venomous and insatiate snake after its prey introduced and passed into law the Ceylon Citizenship Act No.18 of 1948 which rendered a million Tamils of Indian origin stateless. In 1949 by the enactment of Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Amendment Act No.48, which was an amendment to the 1946 Orders in Council on franchise, the Hill country Tamils who returned 7 Members to Parliament at the general elections held in 1947 were rendered both stateless and voteless. Consequently the electoral strength of the Tamils in the subsequent Parliaments was reduced to almost half to 11.92% from 21.66% as at the time of independence. On the other hand Sinhalese representation in Parliament rose from 71.60% in 1948 to 80.78% in 1959.

In the same year the government under D.S. Senanayake enacted Act No.51 under which the Gal Oya Development Board was established. It was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister D.S.Senanayake on August 28, 1949 at Ingniyakala. A dam was built at Ingniyakala to divert the Gal Oya river waters. This water reservoir was appropriately named Senanayake Samudra – the biggest man-made tank in the whole of Ceylon. Gal Oya Development Board spent a staggering US67.2 million dollars to build the infrastructure and settle the colonists.

Gal Oya scheme covered 120,000 acres and a total of 40 colonies were established each consisting of 150 families. A single family was given 3 acres of paddy land and 2 acres of highland with a dwelling house. In the first phase of the scheme 20,000 Sinhalese were settled in these colonies. Although 6 colonies were allocated to Tamils, they were driven out during the communal riots that broke out on June 5, 1956. Several Tamils were killed or maimed by marauding Sinhalese thugs. Those Tamils who returned to their homes were again attacked during the 1958 racial riots. Today the allotments in these 6 colonies are occupied by the Sinhalese.

In 1990 twenty-nine Tamils living in Lagugala, near Poththuvil were killed and their houses destroyed by the Sinhalese. Another 314 Tamil families were driven out of Lagugala and they are now refugees living in the adjoining Tamil villages of Alaiyadivembu, Karativu, Vinayakapuram etc. The 1,200 acres of cultivable land belonging to the Tamils had been taken over by the Sinhalese with the help of the army.

By 1960 an entirely new electorate called Amparai (now called Digamadulla) was carved out for the Sinhalese colonists on the recommendation of the De-limitation Commission appointed in 1959.

On 10th January 1961 the government created a new administrative district called Amparai out of the then existing Batticaloa district which sharply increased the tempo of Sinhalese colonization.

The Sinhalese population in the undivided Batticaloa district in 1911 was only 4702. In 1921 it was 7, 243. But after the Gal Oya scheme was launched the Sinhalese population began to rise by leaps and bounds as the following Table shows.

Table 1: Changes in Ethnic composition of Amparai District (1911-1981) Year Sinhalese Tamils Muslims
Number % Number % Number %

1911
4702 7.0 24733 37.0 36843 55.0
1921
7285 25207 37901
1953
26450 39985 29.0 69376 51.0
1963
62160 29.0 49220 23.5 97990 45.6
1971
82280 30.0 60519 22.0 126365 47.0
1981
146371 38.01 78315 20.0 126365 47.0
INCREASE
1911-
1981
141669 3012% 53582 216% 124638 338%

3. Sinhalese Colonization of Trincomalee District
In the Trincomalee district under Allai colonization scheme 65% of the allotments was given to Sinhalese and 35% to Muslims. Under Kantalai colonization scheme the intake was 77% Sinhalese and 23% Tamil speaking. Under Morawewa (Muthalikkulam) scheme –though initially allotments were made on a proportionate basis, subsequent violence directed against Tamil settlers on a regular basis by the Sinhalese forced the Tamils to evacuate. Today it is a 100% Sinhalese colony.

In 1972 Nochchikulam was re-named Nochiyagama and Sinhalese were settled down in 5,000 acres of land forcibly acquired from Tamils living in Kappalthurai and Paalampoddaru. The brain behind this scheme was no other than K.B. Ratnayake, M.P. and the then SLFP Organizer for Anuradhapura District. In 1973 during Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s rule a total of 10,738 Sinhalese families were illegally settled in the Trincomalee District.

Sinhalese colonists were planted all along the Tamil coastal villages like Kuchchaveli, Pulmoddai, Kumburuppiddi, Thiriyai, Thennamaravadi etc. For example in 1983 hundreds of Sinhalese illegally encroached and occupied the land adjoining Pulmoddai Agricultural Development Society. On December 2, 1984 these Sinhalese colonists attacked Thennamaravadi village situated North of Pulmoddai, and burnt 165 houses and 7 shops belonging to the Tamils. This resulted in the displacement of 749 Tamils constituting 147 families who were forced to irk out existence as refugees in adjoining villages.

During the sixties and seventies many Sinhalese villages sprouted in and around Trincomalee town. Srimapura, Abayapura, Mihintapura, Pattispura were some of the Sinhalese villages thus created often after driving the Tamils away. In 1984 Tamils living in China Bay and Kavathikuda were uprooted and Sinhalese took their places with the help of the armed forces.

In October, 1998 132 Tamil families living in Linga- Nagar, a village 1 ½ miles from Trincomalee town, were forcibly ejected by the army on the pretext of expanding the nearby Sinhalese army camp. Earlier in September 1996, 47 Tamil families were forced out for establishing the original camp.

Until the early 1980s areas targeted for Sinhalese colonization was confined to Tamil areas of mixed ethnic communities. This policy was subsequently ditched for obvious reasons and Sinhalese colonies came to be established in areas exclusively inhabited by the Tamils. This no doubt is ethnic cleansing of the Tamils in their land of birth with a vengeance by a Sinhala-Buddhist government bent on enforcing Sinhalese hegemony.

Trincomalee District has not seen a Tamil Government Agent since independence in 1948. District Land Officers posts are also filled by Sinhalese to ensure smooth implementation and accelerated colonization without any cliches. The following Table 2 shows the dramatic increase in the Sinhalese population over the years.

Table 2: Changes in Ethnic composition of Trincomalee District (1827-1981)

Year Sinhalese
Tamils Muslims
Number % Number % Number %

1827 250 1.3 15663 81.8 3245 16.9
1881 935 4.2 14394 64.8 5746 25.9
1891 1109 4.3 17117 66.4 6426 25.0
1901 1203 4.2 17069 60.0 8258 29.0
1911 1138 3.8 17233 57.9 9714 32.6
1921 1501 4.4 18586 54.5 12846 37.7
1946 11606 15.3 33795 44.5 23219 30.6
1953 15296 18.2 37517 44.7 28616 24.1
1963 40950 29.6 54050 39.1 42560 30.8
1971 54744 29.1 71749 38.1 59924 31.8
1981 86341 33.6 93510 36.4 74403 29.0

INCREASE
1881-1981 85406 9134% 79216 550% 68657 1194%

Source: Census data on Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for the period 1881-1981

Area of Trincomalee District– 2618.2 sq. kms
In 1881 the Sinhalese population was a mere 4.2%, but it increased to a staggering 33.6% in 1981 and constituted one- third of the total population of the Trincomalee District.

The graphic demographic changes for the Eastern Province as a whole between 1881-1981 are shown in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Changes in the Ethnic composition of Eastern Province (1827-1981)

Year Sinhalese Tamils Muslims
Number % Number % Number %
1827 250 1.3 34758 75.65 11533 23.56
1881 5947 4.5 75408 61.35 43001 30.65
1891 7512 4.75 87701 61.55 51206 30.75
1901 8778 4.7 96296 57.5 62448 33.15
1911 6909 3.75 101181 56.2 70409 36.0
1921 8744 4.5 103551 53.5 75992 39.4
1946 23456 8.4 146059 52.3 109024 39.1
1953 46470 13.1 167898 47.3 135322 38.1
1963 109690 20.1 246120 45.1 185750 34.0
1971 148572 20.7 315560 43.9 248567 34.6
1981 243358 24.9 409451 41.9 315201 32.2
INCREASE
1881-1981 237411 3592% 334043 443% 272300 633%

There has been no population census since 1981, but one is scheduled for 2001. The full impact of the sustained Sinhalese colonization in the Eastern province under war conditions and army terror will be revealed after this census is completed.
4. Colonization of Vavuniya District

In Vavunia District because of the influx of Sinhalese under the Padavia (Paavatkulam) colonization scheme, the government created a new Sinhalese AGA’s division called Vavunia South by bifurcating the existing Vavunia South into two. In this new division there is a village called Ambalangodalla peopled entirely by Sinhalese from Ambalangoda in the South.

According to the 1881 census there were only 1,157 Sinhalese compared to 13,164 Tamils in the Vavunia District. But according to the 1981 census there were 15,794 Sinhalese as against 54,179 Tamils.

The following Table 4 shows the overall demographic composition of the Vavunia District (since divided into Vavunia and Mullaitivu Districts).

Table 4: Changes in Ethnic composition of Vavunia District (1827-1981)
Year Sinhalese Tamils Muslims
Number % Number % Number %
*1827 517 5.7 8011 94.3 - -
1881 1157 7.4 13164 84.6 1138 7.3
1891 1188 7.7 13030 84.1 1139 7.3
1901 1128 7.4 12726 84.0 1069 7.1
1911 1848 10.7 14059 81.1 1241 7.1
1921 2215 11.8 14978 80.1 1345 7.2
1946 3870 16.6 17071 73.4 2158 9.3
1953 5920 16.9 25881 73.7 3020 8.6
1963 12020 17.5 51410 75.1 4900 7.2
1971 15981 16.7 72259 75.9 6641 7.0
1981** 15876 16.6 73133 76.3 6640 6.9
INCREASE
1881-1981 14719 1272% 61969 383% 5502 483%

*Includes part of Mannar.
** Now divided into Vavuniya and Mullaitivu Districts.

Thus while the Tamil population increased by only 383% the Sinhalese population increased by 1272% between 1881-1981!

The Paavatkulam Colonization Scheme was introduced in Vavunia District in 1956. At the beginning 595 Tamil families and 453 Sinhalese families were settled under this scheme. However, the Tamil families were later chased away and it is now a 100% Sinhalese colony.

In the early eighties the Gandhiyam Movement re-settled about 85,000 Tamils from the Hill country who were victims of racial violence directed against them by the Sinhalese during 1977, 1979 and 1981. But the government of J.R.Jayawardena used the Sinhala army to remove the Tamil settlers by force in 1982 using emergency powers.

5. New Sinhalese Electorates Carved Out

In Trincomalee out of 11 AGAs divisions the Sinhalese are in the majority in 7 of them i.e. Tampalagamam, Trincomalee Town and its suburbs, Sripura, Gomarankadawela (Gomarankadavai), Morawewa (Muthalikkulam), Kantalai and Seruwila.

The De-limitation Commission carved out Seruwila as a new electoral division in 1976 and a Sinhalese was duly returned to Parliament in the general elections held in 1977. Seruwila electorate occupies three-fifthof the total land area of Trincomalee District.

In Amparai (now shortened to Ampara) District, out of 16 AGAs divisions, the Sinhalese are in a majority in 8 of them viz Amparai Town, Tamana, Namla Oya, Ukana, Dehimathakandiya, Lagugala, Maha Oya and Pathimathalana. Out of a total area of 4,318 sq. kms; 3,391 sq. kms belonged to Sinhalese AGAs divisions. That is 78% of the land area had become Sinhalese majority areas in the Amparai District.

In 1977 two Sinhalese members were returned to Parliament from Digamadulla in the Amparai District and Seruwila in the Trincomalee District respectively. The number of Sinhalese M.PP from the Eastern province dramatically increased to five in 1989, four from Amparai District and one from Trincomalee District. The same number of Sinhalese M.PP was returned to Parliament in the 1994 general elections.

7. Weli Oya (Manal Aru) Sinhalese Colonization

On 16th April, 1988 by an extra ordinary gazette notification Manal Aru area in the Mullaitivu District was re-named Weli Oya ( Proclaimed the 26th District of Sri Lanka) and included in the Rapid Mahaweli Development Scheme. A total of 13,288 Tamil families living in 42 villages, including Kent and Dollar farms and 12 others each 1000 acres in extent held on 99 years lease by Tamil business concerns., were dispossessed of their lands under the same gazette notification. The Sinhalese army gave 48 hours notice to the Tamil villagers to vacate their homes or face eviction by force. In fact colonization of Manal Aru commenced as early as 1984 and the Sinhalese army’s presence in the area dates back from the same year.

The Sinhalese army did use force as promised and scores of Tamil villagers, some of them Hill country Tamil refugees victims of earlier Sinhalese violence in 1983, were murdered and the rest fled in terror. In one night alone 29 Tamil villagers were murdered at Othiyamalai, a hamlet furthermost from the Weli Oya colony.

The master-minds and the driving force behind the Weli Oya Sinhalese colonization were Messrs. Gamini Dissanayake, Minister for Mahaweli Development, Lalith Athulathmudali, Minister of National Defence, Cyril Mathew, Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs and N.G.P. Panditaratne, Chairman Mahaweli Development Board. These ‘gang of four’ openly advocated the colonization of the North and East in general and Weli Oya in particular by Sinhalese after driving the Tamils out using military force.

From there on Sinhala colonization was put on a war-footing and between 1988-89, 3 364 families, most of them ex-convicts brought straight from prisons, were settled in Weli Oya. A further 35,000 persons comprising 5, 925 families were also settled under the same scheme. It is in recognition of the ‘yeoman services’ rendered by the top elite of the Sinhala army, especially that of Major General Janaka Perera, the Tamil village of Thannimurippu was re-named Janakapura.

Right now the Sri Lankan government has deployed around 25,000 Sinhalese soldiers and para-military personnel (Home Guards) to defend the strategic settlement complex, the so-called "border villages" of Weli Oya. As stated above the complex has driven a wedge between the Northern and Eastern provinces.

According to Brigadier Hiran Halangoda "Weli Oya is very important militarily. Our presence will not allow the North-East merger. Terrorists cannot win Eelam as long as we stay here. If we go, there will be a threat to Padavia, Kebitigollewa and eventually Anuradhapura." (Sunday Observer – 22 February, 1998). Of course the brigadier knows better.

Following troops on the eastern axis of "Operation Jayasikurui" (Sure of Victory) launching military offensive from Gajabapura-Padaviya camps in Weli Oya in May, 1998, access south of Nedunkerni is now blocked by a bunker line from Gajabapura to Nedunkerni and Olumadu. The army Forward Defense Lines (FDLs) now extends from Nedunkerni in the West to Kokkulai in the East. and Olumadu in the South

Writing in the Sunday Times (26th August, 1990) Mahaweli Development Ministry Official, Herman Gunaratne literally let the cat out of the bag when he confessed, inter-alia, thus-

"All wars are fought for land...The plan for settlement of people in Yan Oya

and Malwathu Oya basins were worked out before the communal riots of 1983.

Indeed the keenest minds in the Mahaweli, some of whom are holding top

international positions were the architects of this plan. My role was that of an

executor...

We conceived and implemented a plan which we thought would secure the

territorial integrity of Sri Lanka for a long time. We moved a large group of

45,000 land hungry (Sinhala) peasants into the Batticaloa and Polonaruwa

Districts of Maduru Oya delta. The second step was to make a similar human

settlement in the Yan Oya basin. The third step was going to be a settlement of

a number of people, opposed to Eelam, on the banks of the Malwathu Oya.

By settling the (Sinhala) people in the Maduru Oya we were seeking to

have in the Batticaloa zone a mass of persons opposed to a separate state...Yan Oya if settled by non-separatists (Sinhala people) would have increased the population by about another 50,000. It would completely secure Trincomalee from the rebels..."

As rightly pointed out by the writer this war is indeed a battle for the land. That is precisely the reason why Yaalpanam was re-named Yapapatuna and the Lion flag was ceremoniously hoisted when the army captured Jaffna in 1995. Similarly Poovarasankulam on the Vavuniya –Mannar road was re-named Sapumalpura and the Lion flag hoisted when the army captured it following operation Edibala in February 1997. The Lion flag was again hoisted at Mankulam in the same year when the ghost town was occupied by the army to buttress Sinhalese hegemonic rule over the Tamils and their territory.

In a statement from London, where she was on a private visit, President Chandrika Kumaratunga congratulating the ‘valiant soldiers’ who captured Mankulam. The statement said:

"I was very happy to learn that our valiant soldiers have captured Mankulam, the last stronghold of the LTTE terrorists. I wish to share the joy of this historic victory with the fellow countrymen and brave soldiers who are now jubilant over the achievement." (Reuters – Colombo October 4, 1997)

Not to be left out the Deputy Minister of Defence Anurudda Ratwatte crowed "Your motherland salutes you. You have not sacrificed your lives in vain."

Now nine years later, the quest to "completely secure Trincomalee from the rebels" proceeds unabated. Newspaper reports from Trincomalee confirm the fact that Sinhalese continue to settle illegally on private lands owned by the Tamils as well as on lands belonging to several Hindu temples helped invariably by the armed forces.

Even the Tamil groups in Colombo which are running with the hare (the Tamils) and hunting with the dogs (the Sinhalese government) referring to the settlement of Sinhalese in the eastern part of Trincomalee described it as an "attempt to artificially change the demographic composition of the District."

According to the Secretary General of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Mr. Suresh Premachandran, the decision was taken by representatives of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Tamil Eelam iberation Organisation (TELO), at a meeting here on Sunday.

In a statement, Mr. Premachandran said the parties were of the opinion that ``instead of resettling displaced Tamils'', numbering thousands, from the Trincomalee District due to the civil war, ``the Government is engaged in massive State-aided colonisation of these areas by Sinhala settlers.'' Condemning what they termed ``blatant attempts to artificially change the demographic composition of the District,'' the parties demanded that the Government ``immediately dismantle all the illegal Sinhala colonies in and around Linga Nagar and Trincomalee District.''

A look at the past history of systematic colonization of Tamil traditional homelands by Sinhalese at state expense reveals the sorry spectacle that it was done while Tamils served as ministers in the cabinet and Tamil political parties extended support from inside or outside parliament to the government in power.

10. Land Grab by Sinhalese army in the Jaffna District

Presently after lying low for a while to lull the Tamils into complacency, a time tested tactic, the government has once again pulled the rug under their feet by giving the green light to the acquisition of 261.8 hectares of land at Palaly for the armed forces.

An earlier attempt to acquire the land in March this year was suspended by President Chandrika Kumaratunga after Tamil parties protested against the move. However, the Gazette Extraordinary of June 8, 1999 which was released to subscribers only on August 28, 1999 states that 397 allotments of land measuring 261.8 hectares will be acquired under section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act. The proposal made by the then acting Land and Agriculture Minister Salinda Dissanayake adds that the land is needed for a public purpose.

The Government has formal plans to acquire private land in Valigamam North to settle families of soldiers stationed in the North. Ironically Tamil families from Valigamam North are still forbidden by the authorities to return and resettle in their homes for "security reasons."

The upshot of the proposed land grab involves the take over two historical Temples sacred to Hindu Tamils. The temples are Maviddapuram Kanthaswamy Kovil and Keerimalai Nakuleswaram temple; the latter was in existence even before the arrival of the legendary Vijaya and his men in BC 543. While Buddhist places of worship in Tamil areas involving several hundred acres are declared as Sacred Cities (Example Thiriyai in Trincomalee District) by the Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lankan government, the same government converts hallowed Hindu Temples of antiquity into military camps.

Thirukketheesvaram in Mannar District and Koneswaram in Trincomalee District – both these temples immortalized by Saint Gnanasampanthar and Saint Thirunavukkarasar (7th century AD) in their sacred hymns remain occupied by the Sinhalese armed forces.

Even after the capture of Jaffna peninsula in 1996, the army has maintained an extensive buffer zone between the base and civilian settlements. No civilians are allowed into the two-kilometre zone without strict security checks. The whole base is regarded as a high security zone due to the airfield. None of the buildings that are located inside the buffer zone have been allowed to be reclaimed by their owners and no civilians are allowed to settle in the zone.

While Buddhist places of worship in Tamil areas involving several hundred acres are declared as Sacred Cities (Example Thiriyai in Trincomalee District) by the Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lankan government, the same government converts Hindu Temples of antiquity into military camps with impunity. Thirukketheeswaram Temple in Mannar District and Koneswaram Temple in Trincomalee District, both these Holy Isvarams immortalized by Saint Gnanasampanthar and Saint Thirunavukkarasar (7th century AD) in their sacred hymns, remain occupied by the Sinhala armed forces since 1990.

At Thirukketheeswaram there are no poojas or other religious rites performed as the priests, their assistants and other workers of the temple have been forced to flee the area by the Sinhalese army. There are no people now within about a radius of 3 miles from the temple. As for Koneswaram an army garrison is stationed at the foot of the hill since 1958 and a priest performs pooja only once a week as against the required six poojas daily. The wanton damage and desecration done by the Sri Lankan Sinhala-Buddhist government is no different from what the Portuguese did to the temples in the 16th century!

Tamils in the Eastern province have lost two-third of their land mass to Sinhalese and reduced to a numerical minority from 75.65% in 1827 to 41.90 % in 1981. More importantly the geographical contiguity of North and East has been severed. This was a deliberate strategical move to weaken the demand for a permanent merger of the North and East that will constitute a single politico-economic entity.

Finally while the Sinhalese government and politicians of all hues have cause to celebrate the golden jubilee with pomp and splendor, the Tamils find they have been pushed to the wall. Today the systematic and planned state aided Sinhalese colonization of Tamil traditional homelands during the last 50 years or more has cast a long shadow as to pose a threat to the very existence of the Tamil people as a Nation. (Concluded)