TNA MP Sumanthiran writes to President about High Security Zones and military cantonments
17th July 2010
HE Mahinda Rajapakse,
President of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat,
Colombo 1.
Your Excellency,
High Security Zones and Military Cantonments in the North
I write this on behalf of the Tamil National Alliance as a matter of urgency after reading the statement of Media Minister Hon. Keheliya Rambukwella on the above at the last Cabinet Press Briefing which was given wide publicity in the media yesterday.
You will recall that we raised these issues with you at the talks held at your Secretariat on the 7th of June 2010 .
Your response to the issue of the large extent of lands maintained as High Security Zones for over a decade, mainly in Valikamam and other places was that you had directed the military to immediately identify the extent strictly necessary for military purposes and to release the rest of the land for the people of the area to resettle.
On the issue of Internally Displaced People not being able to return to their land in Thiru Murikandy, Santhapuram, Keppapulavu and Sannar (Vide – pages 12 and 13 of our Report submitted to you), you will recall that Hon. Basil Rajapakse informed us that the delay in resettlement in these areas was only due to roofing sheets not arriving on time. To our query as to how much longer these people should wait, he stated that in a couple of months the ships would arrive and that they would be resettled soon thereafter.
Your Excellency will appreciate that we accepted these responses in good faith and agreed with you to continue to be engaged in these matters with the government, although we had information that some steps had been taken to acquire land (totalling 4,811 acres) in Indupuram, Thiru Murikandy for the purpose of establishing a military cantonment. In this background, the announcement by the Hon. Media Minister after a Cabinet meeting comes as a shock to us and to the people who have been kept away from their original places of dwelling.
We wish to reiterate to Your Excellency that we do appreciate and understand that the government must take steps in keeping with security considerations, but it must also heed the interests and concerns of the people, since the country’s security is nothing more than the security of its people. Katunayake, Ratmalana, Kolonnawa and even the environs of Temple Trees are declared to be High Security Zones. But people are not prevented from residing within those zones. Similarly in the North and East too whatever military installation that is set up can have a surrounding high security zone, without preventing the people from living in their original lands.
Presently though, in view of the contradictory positions taken up by two cabinet Ministers, we think it has become necessary for Your Excellency to clarify the position to the people concerned and alleviate their anxiety in regard to their resettlement in their original places. We trust Your Excellency will also see it fit to assuage the feelings of these people who have been away from their homesteads for over 1½ years now. Such a step will go a long way in the process of reconciliation that Your Excellency is very keen to initiate with the Tamil People of this country.
We also urge Your Excellency to quickly dismantle the so called High Security Zones in Valikamam and other places in the North and the East, enabling the people of those areas who have lived as displaced persons for over a decade to resettle back in their original places and begin their lives again with dignity. This again will only reassure everyone concerned of the good intentions of the government and curb suspicion and mistrust from exacerbating.
Yours truly,
M A Sumanthiran
Member of Parliament
TNA – National List
4 Comments
The true nature of this aquirement of private property by the military must be revealed to the public. 4800 Acres is a massive extent of land. Have the owneres been given compensation or alternate land to resettle?
These people suffered under the LTTE, now under the legal govt?
The factual, unemotive letter of parliamentarian Sumanthiran on high security zones to the president is a welcome development. The government had also promised action on these zones to the group I was a member.
In this age of super-technology, there is no need for vast acreages of land to be declared high security zones. The LTTE raising its ugly head is receding faster by the day, should be also an important consideration in this context. Security must not be compromised. Equally, the right to normal life and property for the people who were displaced from these zones also should not be compromised. The president is co-existing within a high security zone with his neighbours and in fact invited them for a meal during the last election season.
The land within some of the high security zones are highly fertile and were very productive. These lands should be returned to farming as a priority. This is an economic necessity and of vital importance to the whole country.
Mr.Sumanthiran, as a respected lawyer, a person yet unstained by politics and possibly a figure of hope, in a barren 'Tamil' political landscape, should take on the following issues and be part of finding acceptable solutions:
1.Establishing the ownership and boundaries of the lands within these high security zones through a special body set up for this purpose.
2.Formulating policies regarding lands that remain and will remain unclaimed.
3.Measures to curb malpractices and fraud regarding abandoned land in the north and east. In fact the allegation that a senior figure in the TNA is involved in such malpractices in Jaffna should be publicly inquired into by his party
I think Mr Sumanthiran MP has a valid point wanh he said; Katunayake, Ratmalana, Kolonnawa and even the environs of Temple Trees are declared to be High Security Zones. But people are not prevented from residing within those zones.
I am sure our defence secretary would take up the point and see what he could do.
I hope all other TNA MPs would take a cue from Mr.Sumanthiran in their approach in solving problems of their community.
As Mr.Sumanthiran, I hope others MPs too would understand that there is a security aspect and that is the priority. And Confrontation is not the way.
Take note young MP Sumanthiran is a calm and collected voice of reason for the new generation of the Tamil people of the NEP. His views, as that expected of a good lawyer, are expressed after much consideration and thought. He cannot be tarred with the LTTE/Separatist brush. While the people of the area, joined by much of the concerned world, are pleading for the release of illegally held land, homes, agricultural entities, places of worship, schools etc they are met with further and insensitive confiscation of their precious and dwindling land on the guise of "security" from an enemy that is simply not there or unlikely to emerge if justice is meted out. That the Supreme Court has not provided the justice the people concerned have asked for years ago does in no way enrich our judicial tradition. Another commentator, with some knowledge of army matters wants us to believe that new Viharas, Sinhala schools etc will remain within the proposed Cantonment. He simplistically believes the Sinhala soldiers and families to come will not disturb the demographic reality.
I suspect this is not in accord with the intention of State actors in the line. The very opposite is in the drawing board.
Tamil people continue to plead for understanding and justice. Mr Sumanthiran, on behalf of his electorate and the Tamil people, pleads with the President for a clear and unambiguous statement (now that 2 ministers interprete the same matter from diametrically different positions) on the HSZ lands issue. What is the difficulty in making this announcement if the State's intentions are not mala fide?
ISS