தவறவிடாதீர்கள்..!உடனே பதிவு செய்யுங்கள்

By I. sivasanthan

Demanding the immediate release of ancestral lands currently occupied as High Security Zones (HSZs), displaced landowners staged their eighth consecutive weekly Friday protest yesterday outside the military's "Commando" bungalow in Valikamam North.

The long-standing grievance dates back to June 1990, when residents spanning the 248, 249, 251, 255, and 256 Grama Niladhari (GN) divisions in Valikamam North were forcibly evacuated from their homes due to the escalation of the civil war. Since their displacement, the vast region has remained cordoned off under strict military control as a designated High Security Zone.

Despite 17 years having elapsed since the formal conclusion of the internal war, security forces have refused to vacate the area, maintaining its status as an active military zone.

For several years, affected landowners have waged a persistent legal and social battle for the release of approximately 651 acres of private land. Faced with continuous state inaction and a refusal to hand back their properties, the landownership community recently resolved to launch sustained protests every Friday. Today’s demonstration marks the eighth consecutive week of this targeted campaign.

"We have been locked out of our own homes, farms, and heritage for generations. Seventeen years of post-war peace should have meant resettlement, but for us, the occupation simply continues under the guise of security," one protesting landowner stated.