At the time of the army’s arrival there were 34 houses in this area. The army said that they were here temporarily. But they stayed permanently. People staged a demonstration on 08.11.2011. After the demonstration, two soldiers were posted near the protest hut. After the deployment of the army, nine families from this area were like prisoners. Everyone else was chased and ran away from this place. After the Court judgment and people’s protest, 39 acres of land were released on 15.01.2019. According to the Divisional Secretary, there are 130 acres of land in the district. The army brought all the lands under their control and grabbed 59 acres and released only 39 acres.
However, people are not able to use the released lands because the wildlife department continues to sue them. There is no opportunity for the people who left this place to come and settle here again. If they do, the wildlife officials file cases against them. When we approached the Divisional Secretary regarding this issue, they gave us a letter which was issued by the wildlife authorities requesting to occupy the land. Even though we have received the letter, where can we go after giving up our land? Even though the wildlife department has filed court cases, they do not have any evidence to claim ownership for this land.
Currently, the soldiers are living in one part and we are living in the other part of the land. When we protested we were arrested and put in jail. We have been forced to remain silent in the face of this injustice. For more than eight years, our livelihood was completely affected. We are a family of 5 living with hardships. Our demand is that our lands should be handed back to us.
A. M. Misbaku
Aalim Chenai, Ampara
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