The Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, while today is the Committee Stage debate on the President’s Expenditure Heads, I wish to record some matters of greater importance.

¶ 02 Regarding the case filed by Kilinochchi Police Station (Case No. 18/2166/24), Hon. Bharathidasan Ezhilvendhan, Member for Uruthirapuram of the Karachchi Pradeshiya Sabha in Kilinochchi District, was summoned to the Kilinochchi Magistrate’s Court on 2025.11.03. The summons states that he conducted an event using photographs of deceased LTTE members during the war. There is no problem in the country: under the 2015 UNHRC Resolution, people may pay respects to deceased relatives under transitional justice. Even ministers of successive governments have said those who died in the war can be honoured. Yet last year, for paying respects using civilian images of Maaveerar (Great Heroes), police filed this case against him.

¶ 03 Similarly, in Ampara District, two representatives of an organisation named “Naam Tamilar Social Service Union” — its media spokesman Thirunavukkarasu Sujitharan of 04/1 Annamalai, 01 Navithanveli, Ampara, and its leader Gopalan Prasanth of D2/73, Chinnavattai, Lucky Ella — while travelling for work on 2025.11.07 from Chinnavattai, were chased by persons in a black car with number plates hidden by black cloth, near the Saddaianthalaawa bridge. They ran into the jungle. When they went to lodge complaints at Kaluwanchikudy Police Station and the Central Camp Police Station, their complaints were not recorded. They then complained to the Human Rights Commission on 2025.11.11 — HRC-KL-190-2025 (Prasanth) and HRC-KL-191-2025 (Sujitharan). This shows that threats by assailants with hidden plates are still on the rise.

¶ 04 The country is still not a safe environment; youth cannot live freely. Police and intelligence inquiries, summons, and court appearances continue. I wish to place this on record.

¶ 05 Among today’s Heads, the President’s is most important. In recent months, I wrote three letters to the President. One dated 31 July 2025 requested the release of the Thuyilum Illam (Great Heroes’ Cemetery) land at Theraavai. I sent it by registered post and to his personal WhatsApp, and to his Private Secretary Muditha’s WhatsApp. I will read from it and submit it to the Chair:

¶ 06 “Request to release Theraavai Maaveerar Thuyilum Illam land — Fifteen years after the silencing of the ethnic armed conflict in Sri Lanka, in this time of extreme political and economic crises, we believe you, as President, will address the root causes of war and become a model leader by meeting our people’s expectations.

¶ 07 On behalf of our people who never want war again, without jeopardising reconciliation, we ask that our children be allowed to go to the lands where they are buried to worship, light lamps, and weep. Though such opportunities were arranged in past years, in Kilinochchi District at Theraavai, and at several sites in the North and East, Thuyilum Illam lands remain occupied by the military.

¶ 08 The fundamental right to remember the dead gives solace to the wounds of our people’s unbearable losses. This right stems from family religious and cultural values; for such worship and rituals to be free, the Thuyilum Illam lands held by the military must be released.

¶ 09 The graves of those who carried the dreams of their people and died were destroyed; bodies exhumed and scattered. Military camps were set up on graveyards, and military victory has been asserted to this day. As a fellow human being who can feel the pain of mothers, fathers, spouses, children and relatives, I believe you will act accordingly.

¶ 10 Therefore, considering public sentiment, please treat this as an issue of feeling and release the Theraavai Thuyilum Illam land in Kandavalai DS Division fully from military control.”

¶ 11 To date I have received no reply. I submit this letter to the Table.

¶ 12 I also wrote on 04 August 2025 regarding release of Kilinochchi Maha Vidyalayam land. The school’s playing field land, re-occupied by the military after resettlement, has been partly released, but the access road to the ground and a land piece needed for the primary section remain under the military. I detailed that two internal public roads — Azhagiyal Kala Mandram Road and Nandhavanam Road — which connected key civic facilities and the school ground, have been permanently closed for military needs despite repeated requests to reopen. Students and teachers must now travel long detours via the A9 during peak traffic, endangering safety; whereas elsewhere pedestrian bridges and safe routes are provided. I requested releasing the land for the primary section and reopening both public roads. I sent this by registered post and WhatsApp to the President and his Secretary. I submit this letter too.

¶ 13 Another letter dated 31 July 2025 concerned military interference in civil affairs in the North and East, especially Kilinochchi, hampering development targets and public life. I noted: (1) Post-war, the 13.5-acre land for the Kilinochchi public library and ground was fully occupied by the military; only 5 acres were released for a first-phase library, with the remainder still under military, affecting urban design and education. (2) Part of the Kilinochchi District Secretariat premises is still a military camp; near the Depot Junction, land required by Kilinochchi Central College has been demarcated as a military site with a memorial; the military even declared part of it a free Wi-Fi zone, drawing youth there and creating a venue for anti-social activities. (3) At resettlement in 2010, many preschools were forcibly taken over by Civil Security Department units; preschool teachers were placed under CSD administration — 303 in Kilinochchi, 166 in Mullaitivu, 12 in Jaffna — effectively militarising early education, in violation of child rights. (4) The military runs restaurants and salons near public places in Kilinochchi town and some villages, causing losses to local traders and social tensions. I requested ending military interference in civil affairs, releasing occupied lands, and bringing CSD-run preschools under the Education Department. I sent this to the President by registered post and WhatsApp and submit it now.

¶ 14 We face great difficulties. On 06 November, in the Kilinochchi District Coordinating Committee meeting chaired by Hon. Ramalingam Chandraseker, we discussed Theraavai Thuyilum Illam. He said the President is taking steps to immediately release Thuyilum Illam sites in the North and East. But nothing has happened yet.

¶ 15 A year has passed since you came to power. Reconciliation and peace must come. First we must unite psychologically. In the Thuyilum Illam where Tamil fighters are buried, the military walking with slippers over graves, playing football and treating those places with disdain only widens the gap between our peoples; it cannot bring unity.

¶ 16 You recently commemorated about 60,000 Sinhala youths killed — on the 13th — with the President and other ministers laying flowers and paying respects. That was a noble act; we too bow our heads. Sinhala youths were killed unjustly in rivers, ponds, and streets; heads were severed and thrown on roads; even hung from house lintels. I lived in Wattala during 1989 and witnessed the horror.

¶ 17 Therefore, understand that we too have the same feelings and pain. Thuyilum Illam is where souls rest and where the highest ideals and hopes are reflected. Please understand.

¶ 18 You too were activists who struggled long and now govern. We will not take over the state; we do not desire it; under your laws we cannot, and we know that. But we are one of the national communities of this country — a Tamil-speaking nation historically rooted in the North and East. Please understand our rights, worship practices, wishes, and thoughts. That is why, though today’s debate covers commissions and institutions, I raised first the matter under the President’s Secretariat. If, as a good message of history and time, you release the Maaveerar Thuyilum Illam lands before the upcoming Heroes Day, you will bring change to people’s hearts.