KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Tamil Separatist Movement continued the Settler Colonialism project after the British left.  Illegal Tamil settlements were established in the north and east, after Sri Lanka got its independence.   These Tamil settlements were set up silently and secretly, without the knowledge of the public. A small number knew about these illegal settlements, but   when they reported it, the matter was treated very lightly.

Bandu de Silva observed that the process of settling Tamils in Vanni has been going on since 1950. Illicit immigrants were encouraged to come in by the rich Jaffna Tamils who had obtained large tracts of land in Vanni but did not have the labor.[1]

Senior Tamil government servants, such as Government Agents, also engaged in Settler Colonialism. Lorna Wright recalled that her husband was transferred in 1956 from Kandy   to Vavuniya   as Government Agent because the previous GA, Rajadurai had given 40 Tamils quarter acre of land each in Vavuniya.[2]

Gamini Iriyagolle in his book Tamil claims to land said that since 1957 ,there  were secret agreements   between successive governments and   Tamil  political parties,  that land in the north and east  would  not be  given to the Sinhalese. [3] The Tamil Separatist Movement was able to secure from the governments, the assurance that the north and east could be settled only with Tamils. The Sinhalese peasantry was    excluded from all benefits of major projects in the north and east since 1957, observed Iriyagolle.

Accordingly, when 245 allotments were to be distributed at Morawewa Scheme in Trincomalee District, in 1962, the   selection was limited to the Tamils in that district.  The Sinhalese in that district were not included.  As a result, there were only 225 applicants for 245 allotments that had been developed and irrigated at high cost, said Iriyagolle.

The existence of a   secret agreement between the Tamil parties and the government is confirmed   by Neville Jayaweera. Neville Jayaweera was GA in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Vavuniya in the 1960s.  He observed that the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact of 1957 and Dudley Senanayake­ Chelvanayagam Pact of 1965, had specified that all settlers of colonization schemes, were to be exclusively   Tamil.  There was strong opposition to this and both Pacts were abandoned. The BC and DC pacts were torn up but their contents were applied scrupulously,” said Neville Jayaweera.  [4]

G. H Peiris in his essay “An appraisal of the concept of a traditional Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka” stated that ‘no Sinhalese peasants have been settled in the colonization scheme located in the districts of Jaffna Mullaitivu, Batticaloa and Mannar.[5] Cecil Dharmasena added that in land distribution, the original ethnic ratios in each AGA division were maintained. Sinhalese were settled only in the predominantly Sinhalese AGA divisions and in uninhabited forest lands. [6]

Dharmasena observed that the government set up many colonization schemes in the Northern Province for the benefit of Tamils, located at minor as well as major irrigation systems. Here is the data for major irrigation systems.  At least 25 settlements schemes were set up and of over 10,000 families only 7 were Sinhalese, Dharmasena noted.  Here are the figures

District.	No	of	schemes	Total	settled			Sinhalese
Jaffna		9		3054			nil
Mannar		3		587			nil
Vavuniya		4		1439			7
Mullaitivu		9		5286			nil
,Total		25		10,366			7

     Source: Land Commissioners Department 1981.[7]

The Tamil Separatist Movement wished to expand its settlements, but lacked the numbers to do so. They decided to use estate Tamils to create new settlements. The Sirima-Shastri Pact of 1964 had agreed that 525,000 estate Tamils would be repatriated to India.  These persons were picked up from the estates and taken to the north to be sent to India. They never got to India. The Tamil Separatist Movement intercepted these Tamils and planted them in the north and east, such as the Vanni. This was done silently without the knowledge of the public.

Neville Jayaweera said that   in the late 1970s, the Gandhian Movement in which Devanesan Nesiah was very active, was engaged in moving estate Tamils and illicit immigrants from south India into Vavuniya with a view to colonizing that fat belt of land.[8]

Ven. Kitalagama Sri Seelalankara, Chief Incumbent of the Dimbulagala Temple (Dimbulagala Hamuduruvo) said that in 1971 or 1972 K.W. Devanayagam MP had brought estate Tamils to Kalkudah. 

I wrote to Mrs. Bandaranaike and there was an inquiry. The authorities agreed to remove the squatters but Devanayagam intervened and asked for time for them to reap the harvest. They were given three months but the authorities failed to remove them. Instead of quitting, the encroachers went into the interior of thick jungles where they could live concealed, continued Dimbulagala.

 These settlers were assisted by Sarvodaya, World Food Progamme and Gandhian Movement. Later they were given land in Vadumunai area in Batticaloa. Tamils in Batticaloa carried out a smear campaign against me.  They went on to encroach on land in Polonnaruwa, concluded Dimbulagala.[9]  

Jayatissa Bandaragoda was GA Trincomalee in the period 1978- 1981.   During this time Bandaragoda had come across clandestine Tamil settlements in jungle areas inside Trincomalee, in China Bay, Kuchchaveli, Morawewa and Tampalagamam areas. In most of these, the people reported that a Catholic priest, an MP and his brother were helping. The one in China Bay was in the form of a religious peace haven or retreat and people settled there were all Tamils from tea estates.  This was a campaign to colonize vacant land with Tamils. This was a   well planned effort, he said. [10] 

The columnist Kumbakarna exposed this strategy   in Sunday Times in 1999. He pointed out that the combined population of the Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts was 73,010′ in 1971. In 1981 it had increased to 143,803.  Mannar population which was 53,025 in 1971 had increased to 68,178.This meant that at least 10,000 had been brought into Mannar, 60,000 into Vavuniya-Mullaitivu and another 30,000 settled in Kilinochchi district.

 Who were these Tamils and where did they come from. This lakh or so of Tamil people were from among those to be repatriated to India under the agreement between the two countries. They were illegally settled in the Wanni during 1978- 87[11] said Kumbakarna.

Who carried out this scheme and who provided the financial resources? The Gandhian Movement of Rajasunderam, and the Tamil Relief and Rehabilitation Organization led by Nityananda and Kandasamy were principally responsible for carrying this out. Kumbakarna also named SEDEC, Sarvodaya and Redd Barna. Redd Barna was funded by Norway. Gandhian Movement, it is alleged was funded by America, concluded Kumbakarna. Redd Barna was a Norwegian NGO.

Anil Ameresekera said, at Menik Farm, I found several Indian Tamils who spoke good Sinhalese. They were estate Tamils who had lived in the hill country, they were to be repatriated under the Sirima Shastri pact to India, but had been resettled in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi by NGOs such as Redd Barna.[12]

Settler Colonization use of estate Tamils continued in the 1980s. After the 1983 riots, people were collected from plantations in the south and transported out. This happened in our village Batapola where there had never been any ethnic strife, said Bandu de Silva. All Tamil laborers were collected one night and transported in lorries. [13]

A friend who had an estate in Deraniyagala area told me that her estate labor disappeared and then re-appeared some time later. She thought they had been taken to the north-east and then returned.

 At the Mahaweli Ministry, Malinga Gunaratne received a report dated 12.10.1983 where it was stated, inter alia, that a   new village had been created at the Alankulam and Navalangkulam tanks, which were located in the southern part of the Mullaitivu district. Alankulam tank is in Thirumurukandi, Oddusuddan.

The settlement was set up by the Gandhian movement with the support of the Ceylon Workers Congress, the report said.  The settlers were estate Tamils. The team saw about 20-30 new families arrive from estates   while they were there. Within a few hours they had built 12 cadjan sheds.

The settlement had 60-80 houses of semi permanent nature, a store and a small meeting hall with a young Christian priest. The investigating team were informed that that a group of young Tamils regularly came down to this village through Nedunkerni and directed the cultivation and the training of the youth.  The priest had links with both Madhu and Kilinochchi. The settlers were kept under rigid supervision. They were paid a substantial living allowance by an unknown, well organized movement.[14]

In 1984 Jayatissa Bandaragoda was appointed Deputy Commandant for Civil affairs in the Joint Services Operations division   of the armed forces. Bandaragoda’s team travelled to all the villages in districts of Mannar, Vavuniya, and Kilinochchi on a fact finding tour.

While doing this survey we found that a large number of families of estate Tamils had been settled on state land in these three districts. We prepared a map of the districts giving the ethnic composition of each grama sevaka division.

We found that in the period 1971 to 1981 about 80,000 people had been added to the population of these three districts in addition to the normal growth.  They were persons repatriated in Sirima- Shastri pact. They were presumably stopped on their way to India and taken to these areas for settlement, apparently with the knowledge of the government servants of the area. A number of NGOs were involved in providing financial and organization assistance to these settlers.

Ceylon Workers Congress had given leadership to this and had retained the full loyalty of the Tamils. Each house we visited in the new settlements had Thondaman’s photo and each house donated a rupee per month to the CWC fund. The new land cleared by the settlers was cultivated with green gram. The government did not eject them and later they were given citizenship, concluded Bandaragoda. [15]

Redd Barna has carried out a resettlement programme of Tamil people from up country to Vavuniya in 1985, with the assistance of Sarvodaya, said Vijitha   Herath. Herath said so in 2008 in his interim report to Parliament as   Chairman, Select Committee of Parliament for investigation of the operations of NGOs and their impact.[16] 

We do not know how many Tamils from India came into the north during the 30 years of Eelam war (1981-2009).[17] LTTE had encouraged Tamils to bring relatives from Tamilnadu over. Grama Niladhari was then bribed to state in an affidavit that they had been long time residents of Kilinochchi.[18]

The Tamil Separatist Movement was not deterred by the Mahaweli Development programme, which started operations in 1981. The Tamils were in an advantageous position where Mahaweli was concerned.

R. Paskaralingam, a much respected administrator knew the detailed scheme for Mahaweli long before the rest did.  He outlined the scheme to a very appreciative audience at a   SLAAS meeting I attended. I cannot recall his designation and have forgotten the date of the meeting but Accelerated Mahaweli had just been announced and SLAAS was anxious to know how it was going to be done. In 1980, the Permanent Secretary to the Mahaweli Ministry was T. Sivagnanam.  

 Malinga Gunaratne’s book ‘For a Sovereign state’ (1988) gives an account of Tamil activity at Mahaweli.  When the Mahaweli scheme started, Settler Colonialism made sure that it had influence in the Ministry. Malinga found that the senior officials in all strategic   positions at Mahaweli ministry were Tamil. They were in all strategic points in the Ministry and they were working for Eelam, said Malinga. They praised the LTTE, saying how brave and clever they were.  

Those working in the Ministry saw the deceitful compromises made by those in power with the Tamil separatist politicians, said Malinga. He did not elaborate. When the government was told of illegal Tamil settlements in the Accelerated Mahaweli area, the government   reacted with apathy almost as if the north was not a part of Sri Lanka.

At Mahaweli, the Tamil officers outmaneuvered and outflanked their complacent Sinhala counterparts, through clever stratagems, said Malinga. Their machinations were well calculated, well planned out and executed with clinical precision.  The strategies adopted by them are too numerous to be mentioned in the book, he said. That is a pity. This information would have been valuable.  

The Tamil officers    made sure that the colonization schemes in the Mahaweli scheme were thinly populated, recorded Malinga. Large tracts of land were designated as   elephant corridors, forest reserves, national parks and no settlement was allowed in them.

The Tamil officers provided   facilities to the Tamil settlements only. Sinhala settlements were neglected and given step motherly treatment. Direct dialing facilities were installed in all Tamil outposts but the Sinhala settlement at   Padaviya had no telephone, no electricity and no commercial activity.  The Minister knows about these activities but he is helpless, the Tamil lobby is too strong, Malinga was told. [19]   

Padaviya was bursting at the seams by 1980. The area could not accommodate the 2nd and 3rd generations. They would have had to fan out to Vavuniya and Mullaitivu .Tamil Separatist Movement saw this and started installing Tamil settlements on the border of Padaviya leaving a massive buffer zone between these settlements and the Vavuniya- Mullaitivu districts.[20]  

Tamil Separatist Movement had studied the Mahaweli plan carefully and had marked out two strategic locations where Sinhala settlements   could puncture Eelam. They were Maduru oya and Yan oya deltas.  At Yan Oya illegal Tamil settlements were established by 1983. [21]

Mahaweli authorities had decided to divert Mahaweli water to Maduru Oya and   develop the right bank of Maduru Oya. While the right bank canal was being cut, Tamil Separatist Movement started encroaching on Maduru oya delta from Batticaloa.  Part of Maduru oya came within the administration of Batticaloa.

In August 1983 we got news of large scale land grabbing at Maduru oya. Messages were pouring into Mahaweli Ministry stating that there was a massive encroachment of Tamils on the right bank, reported Malinga.

Maduru oya engineers spoke to Malinga. They were frantic. They said we are developing the right bank at enormous cost to that that entire nation would benefit. But by the time we finish work there will not be any land left for settlement.   It is all getting occupied by Tamil settlers. This activity is being encouraged by Tamil officials from Batticaloa who are working closely with the separatist movement.   Politicians on the government side are also with these separatists. Please notify the Minister.  The engineers came a second time to Malinga. Please hurry, they said, she situation is becoming very serious.

Mahaweli Minster   Gamini Dissanayake, when he heard, wanted an army post placed at Maduru oya.  But Director General of Mahaweli, NGP Panditeratne was reluctant to make this request and the army was not stationed at Maduru oya. Nothing was done to curb the illegal encroachment from Batticaloa. These encroachments did not engage the attention of any one. People in the south were not concerned, complained Malinga.   There was studied apathy at the top.

In August 1983 Malinga sent two Mahaweli officials, to check on illegal settlements on Maduru Oya right bank. They reported that Tamil settlements were coming up around numerous small tanks in Maduru oya. They were being made in a systematic and methodical manner. Food supplies were coming to the encroachers from an organized body. More and more settlers were flocking in.  

The delta was a hive of activity. Houses were coming up over night. Villages were given Tamil names, the few Sinhala settlers, mainly Vaddha were given Tamil names. District boundaries were   being altered. The illegal Tamil settler was establishing himself with the active assistance of the Batticaloa administration. Malinga informed the   Director General who took immediate action. Maduru oya delta was a declared a Mahaweli area, GA Batticaloa had no authority over it, thereafter.

At the same time, Ven. Kitalagama Sri Seelalankara, Chief Incumbent of the Dimbulagala Temple (Dimbulagala Hamuduruvo) came to Mahaweli Centre to meet Panditeratne. Malinga was present. You are the DG of Mahaweli. What you are doing while Mahaweli land is illegally occupied by Tamils from Batticaloa, Dimbulagala thundered.

Do you know that while you people are seated in this big office, separatist Tamils are mounting a massive encroachment on Mahaweli land at Maduru oya? They are encroaching on the right bank from Batticaloa. They are altering district boundaries, converting Sinhala villages by giving them Tamil name and changing the names of poor Sinhala people, continued the angry Dimbulagala.

I have been complaining to GA Polonnaruwa and all the officials of the Mahaweli for a long time but they have taken no action. There is tremendous pressure for land from people in Polonnaruwa, Minneriya and Hingurakgoda. They are objecting to the Tamil encroachments .Can you not send Sinhala people to this land quickly.   Unless something is done soon, there will be no land left for the Sinhala people, concluded Dimbulagala. [22]  

Dimbulagala was asked to send in some Sinhala settlers to Maduru oya, to match the Tamil settlements. Dimbulagala did so enthusiastically. He over did it, Tamil politicians complained, the government got scared and the Sinhala settlements were forcibly and brutally removed. That ended the Maduru Oya Sinhala settlement project. The Tamil settlements continued undisturbed. (Continued)

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[1] Bandu de Silva. Sunday Island. 17.7.2011 p 15 .

[2] Lorna Wright. The A9 road. Sunday Island . 19.11.06 p 17.

[3]  Gamini  Iriyagolle  Tamil claims to land p 31.  This book  is now online at  https://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/issues/gamini.html

[4] Neville Jayaweera.  Vignettes of the public service, Jaffna.  Sunday Island 20.4.08 p 13.

[5] G.H. Peiris. An appraisal of the concept of a traditional Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka” Ethnic Studies Report Vol 9 (1)1991 p 30.

[6] Cecil Dharmasena.’ Daily News 26.10.95 p 23.

     [7]  Cecil  Dharmasena ‘The Norhtern Province, an analysis.” Island 20.7.98 p 8  

[8] Neville Jayaweera.  Vignettes of the public service, Jaffna.  Sunday Island 20.4.08 p 13.

[9]  Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state p 131-32

[10]  Jayatissa Bandaragoda, Path of destiny  Godage 2011 p 159

[11] Sunday Times. 14.3.99 p 12- 13.

[12] Anil Ameresekera. Island 11.11.09 p 9.

[13] Bandu de Silva. Island 3.8.10 p 8.

[14] Malinga Gunaratne.  For a sovereign state. P 117-118

[15]  Jayatissa Bandaragoda, Path of destiny  Godage 2011 p 190-191

[16]  Sunday Leader 14.12.08 p 15.

[17] Anil Ameresekera. Island 11.11.09 p 9.

[18] Sunday Times editorial 2.5.10 p 10.

[19]  Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state p 5,7, 22, 23

[20] Malinga Gunaratne.  For a sovereign state. P 207

[21] Malinga Gunaratne.  For a sovereign state. P  43

[22]  Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state p 50,55- 58, 60-62, 70-71.