By
K.T.Rajasingham
Colombo, 11
May, (Asiantribune.com)
Since of
late, Sri Lanka’s historic Wilpattu Jungle Reserve is in national news and has
become the centre of two campaigns that are trying to go at each other- one
against Muslims and Minister Rishad Bathiutheen (the alleged perpetrators) and
another, to protect it from imminent destruction.
The
controversy broke out when media reports alleged that there was illegal forest
clearing and settlement of people taking place within the Sanctuary. Minister
Bathiudeen was alleged to be responsible for these illegal projects.
Former
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who raised his voice on Wilpattu for the first
time in a public meeting which was telecast by a private TV channel during the
weekend, said “We have to preserve our national heritage. Wilpattu is one such
heritage and we cannot allow such national assets to be destroyed. This appears
also to have taken place even when I was in power but we did not know that such
a thing was taking place at that time.”
Wilpattu
National Park is located 25km north of Puttalam or 30km west of Anurdhapura.
The park that lies on the northwest coast spans the border between North
Central Province and North Western Province of Sri Lanka. To the south of
Wilpattu National Park is River Modergam Aru; to the north is River Kalay oya.
Wilpattu National Park’s unique feature is the existence of "Willus"
(Natural lakes) - Natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill
with rainwater. The park is 131,693 hectares and ranges from 0 to 152 meters
above sea level. Nearly sixty lakes (Willu) and tanks are found throughout
Wilpattu which is the largest and one of the oldest National Parks in Sri
Lanka.
Minister
Bathiudeen was one of the leaders of a minority community and he courageously
crossed over to the common opposition’s Presidential campaign on 24 December.
He was one of
the seven national level leaders involved in bringing about change and
Yahapalanaya (good governance) to Sri Lanka giving up all his perks and
privileges and crossing over to support Maithripala Sirisena, the common
opposition’s candidate to challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa bringing one
other parliamentarian and 69 other elected members of Provincial Councils from
the party he created-ACMC.
Earlier, the
former Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa who was in-charge of
the Presidential Task Force was responsible for the development work undertaken
at the end of the war. Rishad has made valuable contribution towards Basil’s
efforts as the Minister in-Charge of resettlement and rehabilitation -in that
has consolidated Basil’s position amongst the minority communities. Rishad
understood the need for support for IDPs as he himself was displaced in 1990
when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forcibly evicted the Muslims
from the Northern Province with less than 24 hours’ notice. The Muslims were
not allowed to take with them anything of value, not even the deeds to their
properties. Rishad has been fighting for the last 24 years on behalf of his
“forgotten people” who have still not been provided the opportunity of
returning to their former homes as they are termed “old refugees”.
His
involvement in Muslim community welfare was such that Rishad’s Ministry
premises was besieged by the anti-Muslim movement Bodu Bala Sena threatening
him, to whom the then government chose to ignore and turned a blind eye.
No arrests
were made, nor any action taken despite this thuggery by men in robes that was
undertaken in front of the mass-media in broad daylight. To date some of the so
called media involved in promoting national consensus and unity are still to
condemn the thuggery and utter disdain displayed by the Bodu Bala Sena on this
occasion.
Unfortunately,
thousands of Muslim IDPs as well as Tamil IDPs in the North still remain
displaced and so far not one Sinhalese organization has come forward to make
any arrangements to resettle them.
The imaginary
notion of Sinhalese being the "Sons of the Soil" and that other
ethnic and religious groups in the country are being “allowed to live on a
temporary basis" as a concession to the non-Sinhalese and to the
non-Buddhists , is the latest scourge that the country is being threaten with.
The Buddhist
‘Chosen Syndrome’ grew with the emergence of ‘Mahavansa Mentality,’ which
espoused ‘killing as a virtue in defence of Buddhism.’
On 2nd April,
when a Muslim delegation led by Minister Rishad Bathiutheen met Sri Lanka
President Maithripala Srisena in Colombo and urged the President to investigate
into those allegations that “Muslims were resettled in the jungle reserves.”
Subsequently
President Sirisena on 09 May issued orders to immediately halt the
deforestation and allocation of land to people inside the Wilpattu National
Park.
Issuing a
communiqué on May 9 Saturday, the President’s Media Unit said that President
Sirisena instructed the respective authorities to take immediate legal action
against persons involved in the deforestation and land clearing at the National
Park.
The controversy
broke out when media reports alleged that there was illegal forest clearing and
settlement of people taking place within the Sanctuary. Minister Bathiudeen was
alleged to be responsible for the illegal project.
Addressing a
special media briefing held at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on 6th May
, Minister Bathiudeen strongly rejected the apparent vilification campaign
taking shape in certain media segments targeting him, among others, alleging
that Muslim IDP resettlements led by him are damaging the Wilpattu Forest
Reserve.
The Minister
said that during the past few weeks, some television and the news media have
negatively reported on continued and illegal Muslim resettlements in the
Marichchikatti Grama Seva division which is outside the Wilpattu National Park.
He said that
one privately owned media channel, during the last seven days, alleged that he
has been destroying the Wilpattu jungle areas and also mentioned that he has
been working to create an exclusive Zone to settle Pakistani nationalities and
people from other Districts in this zone.
“These are
campaigns of vilification. Certain recent media reports stated that the
Wilpattu National park had been affected by the alleged land grab by me and I
am also involved in illegally resettling Muslim people in these areas. I
challenge anyone who could prove that he I re-settled any Pakistani national or
even other outsiders, that is people from other Provinces, within the Northern
Province-and if proven, I vowed that I am ready to resign from my portfolio
immediately. A certain anti-Muslim movement that most of us are aware is also
in this campaign.”
President
Maithripala Sirisena on May 09 issued orders to immediately halt the
deforestation and allocation of land to people inside the Wilpattu National
Park following allegations that people were being resettled inside the park
illegally.
President’s
Media Unit said that President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the respective
authorities to take immediate legal action against persons involved in the
deforestation and land clearing at the National Park.
District and
Divisional Secretaries of areas belonging to lands allocated to Muslim IDPs
categorically state that no lands have been allocated from the Wilpattu Jungle
Reserve areas to Muslim IDPs.
JVP’s Lal
Kantha who recently visited the area remarked: "The lands are said to be
given to those possessing the original deeds. The legal documents are to be
found at the Divisional Secretariat according to them. The original landowners
had fled areas like Puttalam and in the ensuing 24 years consumed much by the
conflict, vegetation had grown in these areas and the place had become like a
jungle, they noted. The jungle therefore needed to be cleared in order to
resettle, they said. They also said that no land grabs whatsoever have taken
place forcibly."
The District
Secretary has confirmed that the giving of lands to original settlers was being
done legally and in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law. JVP
Western Provincial Councillors K. D. Lal Kantha, Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala
and Wasantha Samarasinghe along with Director of Environment Conservation Trust
Sajeewa Chamikara visited the sanctuary area on May 09 to ascertain whether
under the guise of resettlement, jungles were being cleared, the sanctuary was
being harmed and timber trafficking was taking place. Lal Kantha noted that the
officials had declined to comment when queried” “If this occupying of lands and
resettlement by Minister Bathiudeen is being done legally, then why had the
officials not cleared the controversies surrounding the issue in the public
discourse raised by the media?”
Interestingly,
as the volumes of political and media voices on Wilpattu issue are rising
louder with each passing day, the Wilpattu Reserve itself has found sudden
peace thanks to the weekend Presidential Order.
How long
would the largest and historic forest reserve of Sri Lanka continue to enjoy
this fragile peace?
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