I am 81 years old. I own 22 acres of land. I had my own house on my land. But now we are landless and living on the road. There are no basic facilities. I am now at my grandchildren’s house. They are also very poor so it is difficult for them to take care of me. My two sons and two daughters are widows. They also have no place to stay. My children are so poor that they cannot even afford to do my last rites. My children educate my grandchildren with the daily rent of 1000 rupees they earn.
I am pleading for my land to be returned to me. I want my land back before I die. Then only I can divide the land and pass the inheritance on to my children and grandchildren.”
Kandaswamy Maheshwary
Vattuvakkal, Mullaitivu
On 2009.04.21, one of my brothers (Selvanayagam Selvakumar) went fishing and did not come home. We came to know that he was captured by the navy. We are still looking for him hoping he will come home.
In 2009, we left our land because of the war. When we came back, the navy had occupied our land. We were cultivating on our land. Now we cannot even enter our land. There were coconut trees and palm trees on the land. Now we find it very difficult to afford a coconut or a palm fruit. Earlier, a palm shell was 3 rupees, now it is 30 rupees. How much money can we make if we can sell palm shells now?
The land is owned by our grandmother (Maheshwari). We do not know the size and boundaries of the land. Our grandmother knows the details of the land. There is no way for our grandmother to transfer the land to us because the navy is occupying our land.
Selvanayagam Senthuran (grandson of Maheshwari)
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