Friday, December 03, 2004
Battle of the farmers
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
By Damitha Hemachandra
Akaraipattu draws a busy picture against the setting sun. Business had returned to normal and the town was buzzing with life despite repeated threats from the Muslim community to hold a protest while black flags from a recent protest could still be seen hanging in the town centre.
Meanwhile tension within the leading communities, the Tamils and Muslims lies warmed up ready to burst at any moment. Akaraipattu has been the newest battle ground in the East and even the recent peace accord put together by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has failed to address the base problem of conflict between two farmer groups in the area.
The conflict, which caused people to lose their lives and others, their property, was triggered when a state owned grassland managed by the community dairy farmers under a gazette notification issued in 1974 was distributed among the Muslim farmer communities.
The land, which was originally 4000 acres was later reduced to a mere 500 acres and is the only grazing land for nearly 10,000 cattle in the area. Despite the availability of free land in the area, this is the only pasture land, which provides a stable supply of grass for the cattle that is the main source of income for many Tamil dairy farmers in the area.
The conflict was roused when members from the Muslim farmer community, who have returned to farming with the dawn of peace, encroached the grassland using temporary agriculture permission dating nearly 30 backs and started cultivation immediately.
This move triggered heavy protest from dairy farmers in the area, who are mainly Tamil. The members of the Akaraipattu Dairy Farmers' Association consisting of Tamil as well as Muslim nationals had complained to the Ampara Government Agent, who holds the final decision over the state land in the area to address the situation. But heavy pressure from the National Unity Alliance (NUA) as well as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has checked any strict action from the government authorities.
Secretary of the Association, K.N. Dharmalingham, alleges that the SLMC and NUA are engaged in a contest of granting state land to Muslim farmers in the area. "Encroachment is common in almost every place in the area and many of these encroachers are backed by Muslim politicians," he said adding that most of the government land had been taken over by Muslim paddy farmers, who had used fake temporary agriculture permission granted as far as 1960.
"These politicians have been distributing land without any basis among their supporters and many of them have more than enough land," he said, He also mentioned that children as young as seven or eight had been granted land in some cases.
"Although we have conducted investigations and informed the relevant authorities they have simply refused to take any action," he said.
The main grumble of the dairy farmers is that Akaraipattu has enough paddy land but just one pastureland.
"Most of our farmers have suffered long due to war," Shivapragasagam (Shiva) said.
The story of many Tamil farmers in Akaraipattu is the same. The two decade long war has taxed them heavily. Many farmers are in a low economical situation to compete with the rising demand of agriculture while many farmer families had lost their sons and fathers to the war.
"Dairy farming has become mainly a women's job or the job of the poor," Shiva said.
"We do not have enough money to buy tractors, fertilizers and other necessities required for farming and the government is not ready to grant a helping hand as yet," he added.
Shiva, who is in his late sixties, points out that Sinhala politicians, officials and businessmen, who were in the east in the good old days before the war, were ever ready to lend a hand to Tamil farmers in the area.
"However, the present structure is highly influenced by Muslim politicians and does not grant us any help," he said revealing the intensity of the doubt and antagonism, which separate the two communities.
Meanwhile Dr. Jabbar of the Muslim Peace Council and a prominent medical man in the area, interprets the conflict as a move of ethnic cleansing.
"The LTTE has been trying to expel Muslims from the East, which has been their 'homeland' for centuries," he said reminding of the historical event that King Senarath himself gave permission to the Muslim communities, who sought shelter from the avenging Portuguese from the Kandyan King.
King Senarath gave permission for the Muslim communities to settle in the East and ordered them to live in peace with the rest of the Sinhala community in the area.
"Muslims in the east have been farmers ever since and all we need is land and water to continue with our job," he said adding that the Tamil farmers are building up false accusations and using the dispute over a pasture land to create a conflict, which would drive away Muslims from the East.
"This has been the aim of LTTE ever since and Akaraipattu is not an isolated incident," he said. He also mentioned that the LTTE is operating everywhere in the east including Pottuvil, Manirasakulam and Ampara through Tamil communities and is ethnic cleansing the province systematically- ' First Sinhalese now Muslims," he said.
While denying the use of 'fake temporary agriculture permission' to encroach government land, Dr. Jabbar insists that such permission was issued during the Second World War and after, to fight the food shortage.
The Special Task Force (STF) authorities in the area hold a different view. A top STF official, who insisted on anonymity, said that the problem could be solved simply by government officials operating under the central government taking the right cause.
"Since the whole matter is based on a conflict over a state land the government agent has to act by necessary regulations, hold independent inquiries and take the right action," he said adding that the failure to do so had been the cause of the conflict and bloodshed in the area.
Meanwhile a prominent lawyer and former politician, S.L.Gunasekara who represented the Eastern Province during the last 40 years explained that there is a second gazette notification issued in 1974, which prohibits any form of agriculture and land development within the given land area except grazing and testing of new grass species.
This gazette notification places the temporary agriculture permissions in a questionable position and only the Ministry of Land, Government Agent and Judiciary could make a final decision.
While agreeing that encroachment and misuse of land and resources is inevitable in an area like the east, where government administration and the powers of military, police and terrorists overlap and are in chaos he insisted that the government authorities should take over the normal duties of administration to minimise irregularities and chaos.
"Provincial administration is essentially a duty of government servants and civil services and not of politicians," he said adding that it is the duty of the central government to provide necessary financial policy assistants to this task.
Land could be the next reason for bloodshed in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka as in the case of Zimbabwe, where one ethnic group was deprived of agriculture land to supply land to another group for another purpose.
The first shadows of hostility between Tamil and Muslim communities over farming land could be found all around the east including Manirasakulam where the lands of the Muslims are being occupied by the LTTE against the situation in Akaraipattu.
Again, negotiations required to release the lands from the clutches of the LTTE are yet to take place creating a perfect atmosphere for hostility and conflict.
Yet the government authorities in the area seem to be maintaining a Rip Van Winkle policy by refusing to take any action against an issue, which would be simple and straight if dealt with correctly. Thus, a dispute over a state land has become a cause for a communal fight allegedly aided by politicians who seek to gain from the situation.
By Damitha Hemachandra
Akaraipattu draws a busy picture against the setting sun. Business had returned to normal and the town was buzzing with life despite repeated threats from the Muslim community to hold a protest while black flags from a recent protest could still be seen hanging in the town centre.
Meanwhile tension within the leading communities, the Tamils and Muslims lies warmed up ready to burst at any moment. Akaraipattu has been the newest battle ground in the East and even the recent peace accord put together by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has failed to address the base problem of conflict between two farmer groups in the area.
The conflict, which caused people to lose their lives and others, their property, was triggered when a state owned grassland managed by the community dairy farmers under a gazette notification issued in 1974 was distributed among the Muslim farmer communities.
The land, which was originally 4000 acres was later reduced to a mere 500 acres and is the only grazing land for nearly 10,000 cattle in the area. Despite the availability of free land in the area, this is the only pasture land, which provides a stable supply of grass for the cattle that is the main source of income for many Tamil dairy farmers in the area.
The conflict was roused when members from the Muslim farmer community, who have returned to farming with the dawn of peace, encroached the grassland using temporary agriculture permission dating nearly 30 backs and started cultivation immediately.
This move triggered heavy protest from dairy farmers in the area, who are mainly Tamil. The members of the Akaraipattu Dairy Farmers' Association consisting of Tamil as well as Muslim nationals had complained to the Ampara Government Agent, who holds the final decision over the state land in the area to address the situation. But heavy pressure from the National Unity Alliance (NUA) as well as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has checked any strict action from the government authorities.
Secretary of the Association, K.N. Dharmalingham, alleges that the SLMC and NUA are engaged in a contest of granting state land to Muslim farmers in the area. "Encroachment is common in almost every place in the area and many of these encroachers are backed by Muslim politicians," he said adding that most of the government land had been taken over by Muslim paddy farmers, who had used fake temporary agriculture permission granted as far as 1960.
"These politicians have been distributing land without any basis among their supporters and many of them have more than enough land," he said, He also mentioned that children as young as seven or eight had been granted land in some cases.
"Although we have conducted investigations and informed the relevant authorities they have simply refused to take any action," he said.
The main grumble of the dairy farmers is that Akaraipattu has enough paddy land but just one pastureland.
"Most of our farmers have suffered long due to war," Shivapragasagam (Shiva) said.
The story of many Tamil farmers in Akaraipattu is the same. The two decade long war has taxed them heavily. Many farmers are in a low economical situation to compete with the rising demand of agriculture while many farmer families had lost their sons and fathers to the war.
"Dairy farming has become mainly a women's job or the job of the poor," Shiva said.
"We do not have enough money to buy tractors, fertilizers and other necessities required for farming and the government is not ready to grant a helping hand as yet," he added.
Shiva, who is in his late sixties, points out that Sinhala politicians, officials and businessmen, who were in the east in the good old days before the war, were ever ready to lend a hand to Tamil farmers in the area.
"However, the present structure is highly influenced by Muslim politicians and does not grant us any help," he said revealing the intensity of the doubt and antagonism, which separate the two communities.
Meanwhile Dr. Jabbar of the Muslim Peace Council and a prominent medical man in the area, interprets the conflict as a move of ethnic cleansing.
"The LTTE has been trying to expel Muslims from the East, which has been their 'homeland' for centuries," he said reminding of the historical event that King Senarath himself gave permission to the Muslim communities, who sought shelter from the avenging Portuguese from the Kandyan King.
King Senarath gave permission for the Muslim communities to settle in the East and ordered them to live in peace with the rest of the Sinhala community in the area.
"Muslims in the east have been farmers ever since and all we need is land and water to continue with our job," he said adding that the Tamil farmers are building up false accusations and using the dispute over a pasture land to create a conflict, which would drive away Muslims from the East.
"This has been the aim of LTTE ever since and Akaraipattu is not an isolated incident," he said. He also mentioned that the LTTE is operating everywhere in the east including Pottuvil, Manirasakulam and Ampara through Tamil communities and is ethnic cleansing the province systematically- ' First Sinhalese now Muslims," he said.
While denying the use of 'fake temporary agriculture permission' to encroach government land, Dr. Jabbar insists that such permission was issued during the Second World War and after, to fight the food shortage.
The Special Task Force (STF) authorities in the area hold a different view. A top STF official, who insisted on anonymity, said that the problem could be solved simply by government officials operating under the central government taking the right cause.
"Since the whole matter is based on a conflict over a state land the government agent has to act by necessary regulations, hold independent inquiries and take the right action," he said adding that the failure to do so had been the cause of the conflict and bloodshed in the area.
Meanwhile a prominent lawyer and former politician, S.L.Gunasekara who represented the Eastern Province during the last 40 years explained that there is a second gazette notification issued in 1974, which prohibits any form of agriculture and land development within the given land area except grazing and testing of new grass species.
This gazette notification places the temporary agriculture permissions in a questionable position and only the Ministry of Land, Government Agent and Judiciary could make a final decision.
While agreeing that encroachment and misuse of land and resources is inevitable in an area like the east, where government administration and the powers of military, police and terrorists overlap and are in chaos he insisted that the government authorities should take over the normal duties of administration to minimise irregularities and chaos.
"Provincial administration is essentially a duty of government servants and civil services and not of politicians," he said adding that it is the duty of the central government to provide necessary financial policy assistants to this task.
Land could be the next reason for bloodshed in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka as in the case of Zimbabwe, where one ethnic group was deprived of agriculture land to supply land to another group for another purpose.
The first shadows of hostility between Tamil and Muslim communities over farming land could be found all around the east including Manirasakulam where the lands of the Muslims are being occupied by the LTTE against the situation in Akaraipattu.
Again, negotiations required to release the lands from the clutches of the LTTE are yet to take place creating a perfect atmosphere for hostility and conflict.
Yet the government authorities in the area seem to be maintaining a Rip Van Winkle policy by refusing to take any action against an issue, which would be simple and straight if dealt with correctly. Thus, a dispute over a state land has become a cause for a communal fight allegedly aided by politicians who seek to gain from the situation.
