MP Shritharan writes to President Anura Kumara seeking immediate release of Valikamam North lands

25-Oct-2026

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Sivagnanam Shritharan, Jaffna District Member of Parliament representing ITAK, has urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in a letter, to understand the sentiments of people who have been struggling for 37 years, recognise their traditional way of life and immediately release the lands of the people of Valikamam North from military occupation.

The letter, titled Release of Lands in Valikamam North, further states:

Following the outbreak of the civil war in the country, the people of Valikamam North were forcibly evicted from their homes by the military on 15 June 1990. They were made to leave with only the clothes they were wearing, without even being able to consume the food they had prepared.

More than 37 years later, these people continue to live with friends and relatives or in refugee camps. The military continues to enjoy the produce of the long-standing, fruit-bearing trees that these people planted and nurtured, right before their eyes. The tragic situation persists in which even the produce of their own lands is taken away and sold.

Seventeen years have passed since the end of the war, and you have also completed two years in office after coming to power in the name of change. It is deeply distressing that, despite coming to power with the slogan “People's lands must be returned to the people”, these lands have still not been released.

Tamil people living in Valikamam North were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands during the latter part of the 1980s due to the war. Even after 17 years since the end of the war, they remain unable to return to their traditional lands.

This suffering, which has continued for more than 37 years, has reached a stage where even members of the older generation who once lived on these lands may never be able to return to them. The younger generation, meanwhile, has been deprived even of the opportunity to see their ancestral lands.

Having lost their livelihood lands, places of worship, schools and traditional places of residence, these people continue to protest relentlessly for the recovery of their ancestral land.

They remain on the streets, deprived of homes, land and livelihoods, having lost their hopes for the future and forced to live as displaced people who have lost everything.

Within the 17 Grama Niladhari divisions of the Valikamam North Divisional Secretariat Division, including Mayiliddy, Palaly, Thayiddy, Kattuvan, and Vasavilan, lands extending to 2,117 acres and belonging to 2,914 owners remain under military control.

(I am forwarding, for your perusal, a list containing the details of the 2,914 landowners whose lands have been forcibly taken over by the military.)

The lands belonging to these people continue to be occupied by the Army, Air Force, Navy and Police. As a result, the area continues to bear the appearance of a war zone even today.

Inquiries conducted with 643 landowners registered under the Land Acquisition Act have revealed that they insist that their lands be returned to them and have categorically refused to surrender them to the Government.

In a country where the war has ended, the acquisition of private lands belonging to the public for military purposes cannot be accepted under any circumstances. When land was acquired for the airport in the latter part of 1986, the people did not oppose the acquisition, recognising its necessity. However, they unanimously rejected the affidavit relating to compensation offered by the Government.

In these circumstances, there is no necessity to acquire these lands at present. I wish to emphasise that all lands currently held by the military must be returned to their rightful owners.

Land and a home are fundamental to human existence. The people of this region have lived here for thousands of years, with an established tradition and an intergenerational history. They are demanding their own land to preserve their heritage, history and ethnic identity.

If they are displaced from this land and denied its return, their historical identity and their right to self-determination as a distinct ethnic community will also be called into question, thereby depriving them of their rightful claims.

Steps must therefore be taken to return to these people the land that constitutes an integral part of their national identity.

The lands occupied by the Army, Air Force, Navy and Police in the name of airport expansion or security are effectively destroying the livelihoods and historical identity of the Tamil people.

Seeking to acquire these lands even after 37 years of suffering is contrary to international human rights standards and national reconciliation.

Therefore, we earnestly appeal to you, as the First Citizen of this country, to completely halt these land acquisition measures, understand the sentiments of the people who have been protesting on the streets for 37 years for their ancestral lands, recognise their traditional way of life, immediately release these lands from military occupation and take the necessary steps to enable them to live in peace.