Land seizure in Vavuniya, says BBS

27 August 2014 03:15 pm Views - 7364

The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) today said that politicians were attempting to alter the diversity of population in Sri Lanka by backing the resettlement of one ethnic group in a specific area ignoring others.  

It also accused that Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen was influencing Government officers in Vavuniya to evict Tamils from their lands to settle Muslims ignoring President’s orders.

BBS Chief Executive Officer Dilantha Vithanage charged that their allegation against the Minister was true and they already have the evidence to prove that the Minister was seizing lands by force.

“Minister Bathiudeen was also involved in forest annihilation in Willpattu National Park. It seems he is not giving up. We can prove that the Minister is influencing Government officers to evict Tamils from lands in Mullative, Mannar, Vavuniya and Kantale to settle Muslims,” he told a news conference.
 
A resident, Sankar Ganesh from Vavuniya, who was present at the news conference, said Divisional Secretariat of Vavuniya was not allowing him to settle in the land he used to live few years ago.

“We used to live in Sobalakuliyam and when I came back after the war, I was not given the land. It’s true the lands were belonged to the Government but we lived there for a long time. I wrote to the President to look into the issue and I received a letter. When I forward the letter to Vavuniya Divisional Secretariat, he tossed it and said ‘President here is Minister Bathiudeen’, Ganesh said.

He said he had to write to the President again against the discrimination. (Lahiru Pothmulla and Yoshitha Perera)