Tuesday, 24 March 2015 00:01
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DAYS that directly demarcate moments of reconciliation have come few and far between for Sri Lanka, especially after the end of the war. Yet this week started on a propitious note for the Government with the handing over of 425 acres of land to their original owners in Jaffna.
Thousands of acres of land taken over for high security zones have long been a thorn between the Tamil community and the Government. The friction intensified over the last few years after it became gradually clear that there was little onus on security as some of the land was utilised to operate holiday resorts by the army. After much back and forth between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the previous Government under President Mahinda Rajapaksa the situation seemed well and truly deadlocked.
People displaced from their homes and living in camps became a blemish even on the international reputation of Sri Lanka. Never was this more highlighted than during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the area and met with some of these families. Their pathetic plight made headlines around the world and cast a shadow over an event the previous Government was desperate to showcase as a triumphant moment of Rajapaksa presiding over the Commonwealth as its chair.
Then came the unexpected presidential election with its equally stunning aftermath. The TNA made it clear that they had pinned their hopes on the coalition and with it a new political culture. Voters from all communities too were keen to end the decades of division and pushed for a result that held reconciliation at its heart.
Ahead of President Sirisena’s visit to India in February, the Cabinet approved the release of 1000 acres of land that had been controversially absorbed into High Security Zones (HSZ) in the north. Under phase one, 220 acres in the J 284 Valalai Grama Niladhari Division of Valikamam East was earmarked to be released to establish a pilot village where 1,022 families would be given 20 perches of land and financial assistance to build a house. Basic infrastructure including schools, hospital and religious places would also be provided by the Government. This was a promise the President reiterated while handing back the land.
Land under the control of the Air Force in the east is also to be released to landless people with the exception of 25 acres. In addition, buildings used by the security services around the President’s House and Temple Trees will also be returned to public use. Some media reports have indicated as much as 800 acres of land will be returned before the end of next month. In doing so the President set a new precedent. He has made it clear that megaphone politics of divide and rule might win a short day but never a long peace.
Several times over the past few weeks Sirisena brought this message home, telling his party members that they were all “crabs dancing in the water before it begins to boil”, insisting time was running out for reconciliation. It was clearly in this spirit that politicians of different hues and ethnicities took to the same stage on Monday to hand back land to dozens of families that had possibly wondered if their time to go home would ever come.
