Tamil landowners protesting the military occupation of their lands in Myliddy were brutally dispersed by Sri Lankan police on Monday, as Anura Kumara Dissanayake arrived in Jaffna to inaugurate the third phase of the Myliddy Harbour Development Project.
A small group of displaced Tamil families, including elderly women, attempted to stage a peaceful roadside demonstration to draw the Sri Lankan president’s attention to their decades-long struggle for the return of their lands. Police responded with force, shoving protestors aside and using abusive and degrading language. Witnesses reported that women were manhandled by male officers in the absence of female police, while journalists covering the incident were also threatened and chased away.
Among those protesting was an elderly mother who had lost her property to the military-backed Tissa Buddhist temple in Thaiyiddy. She and others had attempted to present their demands directly to the commander-in-chief but were violently driven back.
For over 35 years, Tamils displaced from the ‘High-Security Zone’ in Valikamam North have called for the release of their land, much of which remains under military control. Many continue to live in temporary shelters, while portions of their property have been seized for military installations, state projects, or Sinhala-Buddhist temples.
Despite repeated pledges by successive governments — and Dissanayake’s own declaration that “lands belong to the people” — the Sri Lankan state has consistently withheld Tamil land while expanding military and development projects in the North.
The crackdown on Monday comes just weeks before Dissanayake marks his first anniversary in office.
