Seeking peaceful solutions to Eastern Muslims’ grievances

by Latheef FAROOK

Though the East is cleared of the LTTE and the “Eastern Provincial Council” has been constituted amidst controversies, the Eastern Muslims complain that military victories and political changes have not brought any relief to their long sufferings.

Under the circumstances unless longstanding issues such as forcible occupation of land, land disputes and displacement of people are resolved by peaceful means liberation will become meaningless and reconciliation among the three communities will be a distant dream.

No meaningful measures

Eastern Muslims complain that, up to date, nothing was done in this regard and they urge the Government to clearly indicate that it is prepared to stand by the unarmed peaceful Muslim community and help resolve their grievances before it is too late.

All the previous governments have failed to take meaningful measures to ensure security to Muslims who have been at the receiving end of LTTE atrocities for not supporting their call for a separate state in the North and the East. Unfortunately this fact was ignored by the successive governments.

The stakeholders in nation building should note the fact that building Sri Lanka and propelling it into the 21st century as a modern and model pluralist civilised nation is not possible if any single community is left to suffer by default or oversight.

Today’s suffering of the nation is due to the absence of justice, fairplay and strict enforcement of law and order for the good of the whole nation and its citizens.

A recent report on the grievances of Eastern Muslims by the EMPA pointed out that all assurances in the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord to ensure the security and safety of all communities in the Northern and Eastern provinces disappeared soon after the accord was signed. Instead, in its wake, the Muslims were subjected to harassments, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Serious issues have been raised by Muslims of Batticaloa on the ongoing activities of several international organisations assisted by the Government and the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) in re-locating displaced Tamils on lands belonging to the Muslims.

After 1985, the LTTE forcibly occupied more than 35,000 acres of Muslim residential, agricultural and cattle farming areas. The government did nothing to restore these properties owned by the Muslims based on title deeds, government permits and paddy cultivation register.

Muslims chased out

During the conflict in 1983, 1985 and 1990 more than 12,700 Muslim families were chased out by the LTTE and the Tamils forcibly occupied all the Muslim lands that came under LTTE control. Here too the government did nothing to provide any relief or pay compensation for the loss of livelihood of these displaced Muslims.

Although the Local Government Commission declared Koralaipaththu Central - the area of historical habitation of the Muslims, covering more than 240 sq. km, consisting of 11 Grama Sevaka Niladhari divisions, the boundaries have not yet been demarcated on ground.

Resettlement of displaced Tamils on Muslim land in Iyankuni, Meerakerni, Mitchanagar, Hidayathanagar and Thakvanagar, in and around Eravurpathu Pradeshiya Sabha, had further complicated the peaceful co-existence of Muslims and Tamils in Eravur.

Ollikulam, Sikaram, Karbela, Palamunai, Kankayan Odai and Keechampallam are the Muslim border villages of Kattankudi in Arayanipathu Pradeshiya Sabha area.

Displaced Tamils have been temporarily settled in private lands owned by the Muslims and the mosques after the ‘tsunami’ and the government military operations to flush out the LTTE in the Paduvankarai Tamil villages.

Now the TMVP with the assistance of Government armed forces and help from INGOs are making arrangements to provide accommodation to settle the displaced Tamils who have come from Tamil areas, permanently on lands belonging to the Muslims, depriving the Muslims the lands that legitimately belong to them.

Ampara, the country’s worst affected district, is a glaring example of how ineffective institutions, political rivalries and misinformation can make a mockery of disaster management.

Kattankudy border villages such as New Kattankudy and Palamunai still remain untouched. Mutur, Kinniya, Kuchchaveli, Pulmoddai and Trincomalee town are the main Divisional Secretariats Division in the Trincomalee District where thousands of Muslims have been affected by the tsunami.

All these issues will be discussed at the workshop which will be attended by ministers and top government officials.

(The writer is a senior journalist)