Wednesday, June 15, 2016

The UNTOLD story of the 1990 Muslim Settlement in Puttlam


Just as I have pointed out the anomaly of the social engineering in the North and East, there is a forgotten population that is still displaced, from forcible expulsion in 1990, and NO ONE it seems has really looked into their well being.

I believe there were 10,000 Muslims who were evicted from their homes in various places in the Mannar District on account of the War, and put in temporary refugee camps in Puttlam, north of the Town. With procreation, marriage and extended families, this number has NOW swelled to about 50,000 and still live in these squalid conditions there, with some being successful in business, having better homes and a quality of life than others.

THESE PEOPLE have their vote NOT in the PUTTLAM District but in the Mannar District, and so their vote is taken to the District and used as part of the Mannar District vote base for politicians even though some have never even been to Mannar. They are permitted to vote without an ID card.

I recently spoke with the District Secretary of Puttlam, who though he is technically responsible for them, are not in any of his GN divisions, and so when a death occurs, there is NO WAY a GN death certificate which is necessary can be issued prior to disposing of the body! You cannot bury without it!

They are GN less or province less, people! No one has pointed this out. No one wishes to address this problem, due to various racial balances. Perhaps if all these people are added to the Puttlam District, it could alter the racial composition of the Electorates and upset the local political landscape. Due to this no one has had the courage to address and resolve the issue, and give these people even an INDENTITY CARD. How can you issue an ID card if you don’t have a GN division?

Some of the people in these camps have land in the Mannar District, but for convenience live in their camps, as the conditions are presumably better for them here. The camps are thriving communities that have been transformed into permanent homes, and then I say merely give them permanent residency there, if they do not wish to move to their previous homes, if that is their wish.


In these times, it is a minor problem that no one wishes to intercede in, and it is important that we resolve this, once and for all, by merely giving the people the option of deciding where they wish to live, and if they can find a home there, they are free to move. It should NOT be the state to resettle them at State Expense.    

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is another case of politicians holding innocent people to ransom for their own personal agendas. Those politicians responsible for NOT resolving this issue, will rot in HELL

Anonymous said...

It is time we look at the best option for a person, or family, that can be accommodated in a practical manner. Each family has different needs and it is going to be difficult to satisfy each and every one even in one family.

I know many young girls have been sent off to the Middle East to provide for some of the poor families living in these camps. So even if they cannot get ID cards the Foreign Employment Agencies who profit off of the poor, have been able to get passports for them to go!

However the status quo of status less must change, give them an ID card and say you are Sri Lankan go and live in peace, anywhere in this beautiful island, and contribute to the community that you choose to live in, where ever you go.

Anonymous said...

In the world we live in today, they can go alone on a plane as a slave to a Saudi family, but not alone to find a job with dignity with a Muslim family in Colombo, as the elders will not allow them! Something is radically wrong with our system of double standards even within one community.