The Government should immediately stop giving ownership of lands to Indian Estate workers as it amounts to a historic injustice done against the Kandyan Peasants

Picture speaks a Thousand words

From LankaWeb

Dr Sudath Gunasekara, President Mahanuwara Senior Citizens Movement

The proposal to give ownership of estate lands to Indians Estate labourers by this government is an outright betrayal of Sinhala people. It is an unprecedented political bribe by this illegitimate Government taken to collect the votes of these Tamils. One could argue that it is only a continuation of the betrayals done by our politicians since 1954. But though the earlier Governments had given citizen ship rights to these illicit settlers on our soil none had give them the ownership over the mother that lay the foundation for the future Malayanadu, right at the center of this country

Therefore this Govt should immediately stop giving ownership of lands on Estates to Indian Estate workers as proposed by Minister Luxman Kiriella and scheduled to be handed over by Prime Minster Ranil Wickramasinha on 25^th April at Bandarawela, until the following four steps are completed.

1All landless Kandyan peasants, numbering nearly 1/3 the population of this country are given a piece of land at least to have their burial pit. It is their ancestors who died and sacrificed everything they inherited from the dawn of history to protect the Independence of this country and not these Indians passengers who still continue to consider India as their motherland. Therefore Kandyans, but no one else, could and should legitimately inherit them.

2 Rectification of all mistakes committed by all Governments regarding giving citizenship by declaring null and void all citizenship awards given after 1954

3 Decide on new awards strictly according to the requirements laid down in Ceylon Citizenship Act 1948, Indian and Pakistani (Residents) Citizenship Act 1949 and Nehru-Kotalawala Agreement of 1954.

4 Re-establishment the Kandyan Peasantry Dept of rehabilitation that was closed down by the last Government to create Divineguma and set up the Kandyan Peasantry Development Board proposed by the KPC Report of 1951.

The owners of these tea estates (both private and corporate) should also protest against this illegal political transaction as it is going to destabilize the entire plantation sector in this country as it will definitely extend to the Rubber plantations on the lower areas as well very soon. This is just like giving outright ownership to a tenant over the section of someone else’s house where he lives on rent.

Therefore no land belonging to tea Estates should be given to any individual as private land. The ownership of estate should be left in hands the owner, Company or a corporative society.

If the Government is so keen to give lands to Indian labourers (of course who are legitimate citizens decide as laid down under para 3 above)  then they can create corporative settlements  as village expansion clusters on unproductive lands adjoining to tea estates  where both landless Sinhala people from adjoining villages and estate labourers are settled as mixed settlements. This will avoid ethnic segregation and find a permanent solution to Sinhala Tamil problem in the hill country through estate village integration as well.

No one should be given land for any purpose unless he or she has got full citizenship under the N-K Agreement because all citizenships given under any other scheme thereafter are illegal as they are only political bribes without any legal basis. The Nehru-Kotalawala Agreement overrides all subsequent haphazard actions on this issue.

Landlessness among Kandyan peasants who lost their ancestral land due to British taking over them by force was given as 39,000 families in 1949.Today it has gone over 200,000. In spite of the fact that this country is supposed to have gained political independence from the British in 1948, and was ruled by the natives for almost 66 years since then, today they are the worst neglected lot who has become virtual Refugees” on their own Motherland, since 1815. Their plight is not second to that of the American Red Indians or the Australian Aborigines. They were robbed and exploited by the British nearly for 150 years and thereafter they are, being continued to be robbed and betrayed by their own politicians, who have deplorably failed to restore their birthrights and the historical injustices inflicted upon the Kandyans by the British. The British deprived our birth rights to plunder our wealth to enrich their coffers in Briton. Today our mother land is being plundered by local politicians to get the Tamil vote to get political power and enrich their own coffers and fill their bank accounts here and in foreign banks.

Politicians who are responsible for these traitorous acts all others in the UPFA who voted for the Divineguma bill for the abolition of the KPC and Kandyan Peasantry Dev Authority should be listed as traitors of the first order who have committed the most heinous crime against the Kandayan peasants. In the name of the forgotten and betrayed Kandyans, I wish God will create a separate hell for these traitorous politicians.

If the 1948 Ceylon Citizenship act, Indian and Pakistani (Residents) Citizenship Act (1949) together with Nehru-Kotalawala Agreement of (1954) had been intelligently and consistently used throughout in deciding matters on this issue by our politicians and State Officials this problem would not have been there today. Unfortunately we did not have both patriotic politicians and Officials like in India who put the country before self.

Voters should also learn to elect men/women who represent their interests and not betray them for personal gain. As such they too should take a major share of the responsibility for their present plight for electing such self centered parasitic politicians to represent them.

• Curse be on all politicians who betray the nation