Muslim farmers in Ampara district seek return of agricultural land

Muslim farmers in Ampara district in Eastern Sri Lanka are pleading with the government to return 2878 acres of agricultural land which ought to have been given back to them when the 30-year war ended in 2009. The non-return of these lands has affected 1406 families, who find that the end of the war has brought no relief to them in economic terms, according to K.Nihal Ahamed, Co-ordinator of the Ampara District Alliance for Land Rights (ADALR). The ‘Good Governance’ government of Maithripala Sirisena is as indifferent to their pleas as the previous government led by the hawkish Rajapaksa, ADALR stated.     Ahamed told Express that the lands, which were seized by the LTTE in the 1980s,  subsequently went into the hands of the Sri Lankan army and were then handed over to various government departments such as the Forest or the Archeology Department. The lands are now being used for various purposes including the construction of military camps and settling Sinhalese from outside Ampara district, he said. He also charged that minority Muslims and Tamils are being discriminated in land distribution in the multi-ethnic Ampara district. Ahamed fears that the minorities will keep losing their lands unless it is stopped now. The farmers regret that Muslim political leaders, including those in the government, have been of no use. ADALR has decided to fight on a non-political platform using instruments like the media and the Right to Information Act to get the government moving on their petitions.