Steps are reportedly underway in Jaffna’s Eluvaitivu Island to survey and acquire privately owned Tamil lands for the use of the Sri Lankan Navy, as military land appropriation in the region continues.
According to official notices issued to residents, land surveying activities are scheduled to take place on the 20th of this month for a privately owned two-acre plot located in the J/39 Grama Niladhari Division of Eluvaitivu.
Further surveys are also planned for the 20th and 21st of the month in the island’s Third Ward, where a 53-perch privately owned land parcel has been identified for acquisition for naval requirements.
The move has triggered deep concern among local residents, many of whom have endured years of military occupation and repeated attempts to appropriate their ancestral properties.
It is not the first time that such efforts have been made. Nearly three years ago, similar attempts to survey and acquire the same lands were initiated. On that occasion, the process was halted following strong opposition from landowners, community members, and political representatives who rallied alongside them.
Those affected say the latest notices demonstrate that the Sri Lankan state has not abandoned its objective of permanently taking over civilian lands for military purposes.
Landowners in Eluvaitivu have expressed particular alarm that these actions are being pursued at a time when the current Sri Lankan government publicly proclaims the slogan, “The people’s land belongs to the people.”
Residents question how such rhetoric can be reconciled with renewed attempts to dispossess Tamil families of land they have held for generations.
Adding to local anxieties is the timing of the survey notices. The planned land acquisition activities are scheduled to begin on the 20th and 21st of the month, just days after Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake concluded a visit to Jaffna.
During his visit, the president participated in public events and made statements about reconciliation and development. Yet within days of his departure, preparations to take over private Tamil lands for military use appear to have resumed.
Eluvaitivu, like many parts of the Tamil homeland, has long faced heavy militarisation, with large tracts of land occupied by the Sri Lankan armed forces.
