The Chairman of the Karai Thuraipattu Pradeshiya Sabha, Chinnarasa Logeswaran, has condemned the Sri Lankan Department of Archaeology’s ongoing seizure of Tamil farmlands in Mullaitivu, declaring that the “encroachment of farmlands long cultivated by the Tamil people can never be accepted under any circumstance.”
Speaking during a visit to Kurunthurmalai, Logeswaran accused the Department of Archaeology of unlawfully taking control of lands traditionally owned by Tamil farmers in Kumulamunai, Thanni Murippu, and Kurunthurmalai — areas that form part of the Tamil people’s historic homeland in the North-East. He said the department’s actions, carried out under the guise of archaeological protection, were in fact part of a systematic effort to seize Tamil lands and expand Sinhala Buddhist control.
According to Logeswaran, the ancient Shivan–Aiyanar temple in the area had been taken over and a Buddhist vihara illegally constructed on the site, despite a court-issued injunction prohibiting any new building. The encroachment of lands cultivated by Tamil people for generations is wholly unacceptable, he said. “Like previous governments, the current regime too is engaged in the seizure of Tamil lands.”
Logeswaran’s remarks follow reports that the Department of Archaeology recently installed a new nameboard asserting state ownership over ancestral Tamil farmlands in the Kurunthurmalai area. He, together with Karai Thuraipattu Pradeshiya Sabha member Kalaichelvan, inspected the site and denounced the move as a deliberate provocation.
The construction of the Buddhist vihara at Kurunthurmalai was completed earlier this year, despite sustained opposition from Tamil residents and repeated court orders halting the project. Following its completion, the Department of Archaeology has continued to claim adjacent farmland, disregarding both legal restrictions and community protests.
Logeswaran warned that if such actions continued, the Tamil people would be forced to mobilise and launch large-scale demonstrations to defend their land. He also accused the Department of Archaeology and the Forest Department of working together to block the resettlement of displaced Tamil families in their ancestral villages.
“The authorities must take immediate steps to return these lands and allow the resettlement of Tamil families who were uprooted from their traditional areas,” he urged.
The Kurunthurmalai site has become one of the most visible symbols of the Sri Lankan state’s ongoing Sinhalisation campaign in the Tamil homeland. Over the years, the state has used its archaeological and forest departments to seize Tamil land, convert Hindu sites into Buddhist shrines, and prevent resettlement — a process Tamil politicians and activists have described as state-sponsored colonisation.
