Hundreds of landowners who had lost thousands of acres of their land when the armed forces expanded the high security zone with their camps in the North, demonstrated outside the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (15). They are demanding the release of their lands where  military presence still remains. The demonstrators were supported by Tamil political activists and civil society organisations in Colombo.

The All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) leader and Member of  Parliament, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, was also at the venue outside the Presidential Secretariat where the demonstrators had gathered carrying placards with regard to the land grabbing carried out by the Government with the help of the armed forces.  

From the time the civil strife ended in the country in 2009, owners of the lands where the military presence still remains, have been agitating for the return of their lands which were used for agricultural purposes prior to the expansion of military activities in the North.

Thousands of acres of fertile lands were taken over by armed forces in the areas surrounding the army headquarters as well as the air force base in Palaly. Prior to the military expansion, the legitimate land owners were cultivating vegetables, plantains, as well as grapes on a large scale.

The grapes cultivated in the vineyards of Vasavilan were even considered to be on par with vineyards in Italy and France, according to Catholic priests who had a monastery at a village called Tholakatty near Palaly.  

When the armed forces expanded their line of control and established the high security zones in the North, a significant number of families engaged in agriculture around Palaly Security Forces Headquarters were forced to leave their lands.

Thus, the internally displaced people in large numbers had not only lost their lands but they were even compelled to leave their houses when the high security zone was established.

At present, the lengthy and broader high security zone around Palaly Army HQ has been removed. The Palaly airport which was once utilised solely for military purposes has now regained its importance as an international airport with routine flights between India and Sri Lanka.

Despite the army releasing a significant number of land areas following the clearance of land mines, thousands of acres of land still remain with the armed forces.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during his Presidential campaign trail in the north, pledged to release all land areas under control of the armed forces in the North and East.      

In fact, the displacement in the north started in 1992, when the expansion of the high security zone began and for more than three decades now land areas around Palaly remain in the control of the army.

According to the Government Agent of Jaffna, there are still more than 2,500 acres of private land areas remaining with the armed forces.