No solution from Ranil to Tamil cattle farmers despite assurance

Lanka Files
4 min readJul 12, 2024

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Tamil cattle farmers continue to fight against their loss of livelihood in Sri Lanka’s eastern province as their peaceful protest has crossed 300 days demanding the removal of settlers who have illegally occupied the grazing lands for their animals.

Hundreds of below-the-poverty-line Tamil cattle farmers in the Mylathamadu-Mathavanai area in Batticaloa district have sought the removal of Sinhala settlers occupying the lands designated as grazing lands for their cattle, which is their only source of livelihood.

Although their struggle is went past 10 months on the 9th of July, the president of the Mylathamadu-Mathavanai Milk Producers Association Seenithambi Nimalan told local media no victory could be achieved without protests.

“Our protest has crossed 300 days but it will continue till we get back our grazing lands. We will get results only if we continue to fight. Before the Sinhala colonization happened our output was 6000 liters of milk per day. Now the cattle have started dying. Our livelihood has crippled to such an extent that a person who milked 100 liters a day can milk only 5 liters per day now”.

Local Civil Society activists, clergy, and the public have offered their support to the agitating farmers on their 300th day of protest.

Following what the Tamil cattle farmers say was forceful Sinhala colonization, a meeting had been organized at the Batticaloa District secretariat on the 13th of September 2023. It was presided over by the District Secretary Kamalavathy Pathmaraja who said “A solution cannot be offered at the meeting”. Following this blunt refusal, the cattle farmers started their protest on the 15th of September in front of the Siththandi school.

The affected Tamil herdsmen allege the Sinhala cultivators have forcefully occupied the grazing lands used by their cattle and engaged in agriculture over 2500 acres of land and continue to grab more and more acres.

Sinhala farmers were brought into Mylathamadu-Mathavanai for maize and other crop cultivation by the then Governor of eastern province Anuradha Yahampath during the period of the ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Initially, 150 Sinhala families were brought in as part of the occupation of the traditional Tamil lands, which led to clashes between locals and settlers.

Local Tamil cattle farmers say the Sinhala farmers have forcefully occupied 2500 acres of fertile land out of the 6000 acres of grazing land used by their cattle as fodder.

During their continued protest for over 300 days now, the Tamil cattle farmers allege Sinhala farmers spoiled their grasslands by contaminating it with chemicals to weed out the bushes and burning the grown grass thereby effectively depriving the cattle of their vital fodder.

“More than a thousand of our cattle have died due to lack of fodder,” alleged Seenithambi Nimalan.
This has thrown the lives of hundreds of Tamil farmers out of gear seriously affecting their livelihood.

“Since we started the protest 1,075 cows have died. With the weapons used by the illegal colonizers 375 cows have been killed. So far we haven’t got any compensation”.

He had said earlier that more than 300 persons from 160 Sinhala families have trespassed into their lands and continue to live there illegally. Seenithambi Nimalan further alleges that despite promises by the President and government officials to solve the issues of the Tamil cattle farmers nothing has happened so far.

“The President and the Mahaweli Development Minister met us and gave assurances, but no action has been taken so far. The District Secretary asks us to believe the promises given by the government. We have asked for 10,000 hectares out of the available for grazing our cattle. Then we came down to at least 7,000 hectares. But, the officials including the District Secretary stand at 3,000 hectares. But nothing has happened till now”.

Not moving despite court order

Tamil representatives held a meeting with the President at his Secretariat on the 15th of October to find out a solution to the issues faced by the cattle farmers. At that meeting, President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed the police and the Mahaweli Authority officials to evict those who had occupied the cattle farmers' land and doing agriculture there and take legal action for it.

A case was already registered on the 22nd of September last year at the Eravur Tourist Magistrate Court by the Authority against 13 persons of illegally occupying the land belonging to the Mahaweli Authority in Mylathamadu-Mathavanai.

The Magistrate ordered the eviction of the 13 persons from the Mylathamadu-Mathavanai area on the 13th of November saying they had failed to produce any government documents permitting them to be there and thereby have trespassed into that lands.

Despite the court order, local journalists say, the Sinhala farmers who have trespassed into that land have not yet vacated the land.

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Lanka Files
Lanka Files

Written by Lanka Files

Sri Lankan Independent Media

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