Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the whereabouts of hundreds of acres of forest in the Northern Province.
According to the new plans of the Archaeological Department, the land around the Kurunthur Siva Devalaya in the Thannimurippu area in the Mullaitivu District will be taken over. Colombo authorities say that the surrounding 400 acres is a ‘Buddhist holy land’.
The Archaeological Department has sent a letter to the Divisional Secretary, Maritimepattu requesting that the lands where the Tamils have traditionally lived be handed over for further exploration.
Citing a map from 1932, archaeologists initially said that 78 acres had been designated as places of worship. The letter states that a re-survey of the area is required. Accordingly, the Department of Archeology in collaboration with the Army has commenced excavations.
Now, as requested in a new notification, the Department of Archeology has to hand over 400 acres around Kurundur.
According to provincial journalists, 150 acres of this land belongs to the villagers of Thannimurippu and the rest to the Nagarcholai forest.
Recently, a group of archaeologists who came with Buddhist monks to forcibly clear the lands of the people of Thannimurippu and started cultivating them, forcibly prevented them from doing so.
The letter was received by the Coastal Divisional Secretary after that.
A discussion on that has been set for April 1st.
Locals fear that the land to be acquired in the name of archeological excavations will be used to settle Sinhalese brought in from outside.
A recent report by a US intelligence agency has warned that the government’s intention to seize land in the north and east is to geographically fragment the traditional Tamil homeland.
“Land grabbing in the north and east by irrigation schemes, military bases, archeological reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, protected forests and special economic zones has worsened since the change of government two years ago,” said Anuradha Mittal of the Auckland Institute, which released the report.
According to Tamil politicians, more than 4,000 acres of private land in the North and East have to be returned by the government.
Land ownership was one of the main demands of the P2P Pottuvil, Polykandy Tamil Muslim Pada Yathra held last February with the participation of thousands of people.