The Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member. While the country prepares to celebrate Independence Day—the 78th by count—our people have no freedom, so whether it is the 77th or 78th is immaterial to us. I heard there will be an event in the Eastern Province and that we will be invited, and also in Colombo. I will not comment on the Government’s regulatory proposals today. Without addressing our national question, celebrating “Independence” is absurd. The North and East will observe February 4 as a Black Day under the theme “Tamils have no freedom,” with protests.

¶ 02 There is ongoing structural genocide against Tamils even under the NPP Government. Our lands continue to be seized, a pattern since 1948. From the time the British handed our fate to the majority community, successive Governments have tortured our people. This morning I saw news that the President will release 49 prisoners for Independence Day. Any Tamil MPs of the NPP in this House should be ashamed hearing that. Your President promised to release political prisoners. It has been one year and four months in office, yet when we ask about political prisoners, you ask “who are political prisoners?” Why release 49 general prisoners and not our political prisoners, after promising their release? You pledged to repeal the PTA; now you bring a new law instead. This is the country we live in.

¶ 03 Yesterday, there was a mass protest at Nedunkeni in Vavuniya North. If you claim there is freedom, why must we protest to protect our own land from you? The North and East are our traditional homelands. In the 1980s you launched settlement schemes in Manal Aru, later renamed Weli Oya, to sever that link. Now you are destroying lands, forests, and village tanks to take water from Vavuniya North to Weli Oya via the “Kivul Oya Project,” to give two cultivation seasons to 4,000 farmers of the majority community, while Tamil farmers in Vavuniya have only one season due to lack of water. When we sought permission to rehabilitate village tanks in Vavuniya, the Forest Department refused, citing forest status. But you will clear 13,000 acres of forest to divert water to Weli Oya. Then you speak of equality?

¶ 04 Today, even an MP from Ampara said the Heda Oya project is not being implemented because it would benefit Tamil-speaking people. If it were for the majority, you would do it. The plan first proposed by Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2011 and attempted again by Gotabaya’s Government in 2022 is now pursued to spend Rs. 24 billion to provide water to 4,000 farmers of the majority, while inviting us to attend Independence Day celebrations and at the same time carrying out anti-Tamil actions. I will conclude: successive Governments have betrayed our people repeatedly. Not only through Kivul Oya-like schemes; under the last Government, under the Mahaweli “B” zone in Batticaloa our lands were grabbed; now under Mahaweli “L” and “K” zones in the North, our lands are being taken. Under the veil of “freedom,” for 76–77 years our lands have been seized. Until a durable, acceptable political solution is reached, there is no freedom for Tamils. February 4 will be a Black Day. Thank you.