Mullikulam: Restrictions on fishing, cultivation,
access to the church and school continue
15 Mar, 2013
WATCHDOG Human
Security, IDPs and
Refugees, Mannar, Politics
and Governance, Post-War
The
continuous appeals and campaigns carried out by the people of Mullikulam, the
Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph and members of the clergy and
civil society seems to have finally borne some results, in terms of the
resettlement process of the people of Mullikulam. Even though the situation is
still far from ideal, and the people still aspire to return home, as the
intention of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to stay put, is quite clear, and as the
people have suffered for so long, they have reluctantly agreed to being
resettled 750m outside of their original residential lands.
Two and a
half months since (December 26th 2012) the Defence Secretary,
Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith met with the people of
Mullikulam to discuss[1] their grievances,[2] we visited Mullikulam on 13th
March 2013. We were able to see for ourselves and hear directly from the people
about the progress made in terms of commitments[3] made by the SLN in relation to
the resettlement progress of the Mullikulam people. Primarily, the letter
focuses on the progress made in relation to matters of housing, water,
infrastructure, fishing, transport and access to the church and school.
While some
work has been done by the SLN on the above, access and restrictions have
continued or even worsened.
Whilst the
letter assures that the SLN has “…granted access for the villagers to visit
church and school during day and night time,” some villagers shared that
access is being approved on an arbitrary basis, as on some occasions they have
not been permitted to visit the church, whilst on others, they have. Still
others claim that “known” people are permitted access at any time. There is no
full and free access to the Church yet. Apart from ‘Gate Passes’ having been
given to two of the villager leaders, school children and teachers being
permitted admission daily via the Navy bus to attend school, priests being
given free access at any time, and everyone being given access to the church on
Sundays, there does not seem to be one clear rule with regard to access.
During our
visit, on 13th March, we experienced first-hand the SLN’s lack of
clarity on this issue. Ironically, of the 10 persons in the van, only one
person did not belong to any of the above mentioned “approved” categories, but
still, we were kept waiting at the main gate of the SLN’s North Western Command
Headquarters, for close to half an hour. Whilst we waited for “approval” from
HQ, a Navy officer came up to the vehicle and asked us if any of us had
cameras. When we replied yes, he went over to another officer and told him
this. He also asked us why were visiting, to which a priest responded that we
were going to check on the renovation work being done on the Church of Our Lady
of Assumption (which is located in the heart of the village, now occupied by
the Navy). Finally, after both gate pass holders, another villager and the
Parish Priest got out of the vehicle and went to check with the officer in
charge, as to the reason for the delay, we were finally permitted to proceed
only on the condition of a Navy officer joined us in the van, effectively
subjecting us to surveillance and monitoring our activities and conversations.
Having visited the school and church premises twice before, this was the first
time that we were provided with an accompanying escort. So, contrary to the
picture that is being created that the SLN is ‘loosening its reins’, on the
issue of access in particular, there seems to be “tightening” of access with
additional surveillance. This clearly indicates the lack of religious freedom
and dishonoring of the commitments made, in addition to the discrimination
meted out in terms of access to this particular place of worship. We are not
aware of any Buddhist Temple and indeed other places of religious worship where
such restrictions are placed and visitors subjected to such strict
surveillance. It also flies in the face of LLRC’s recommendation that
there should be access to all places of religious worship, including those in
High Security Zones. But it makes more sense when seen in light of the
statement[4] made by the Defence
Secretary, that the “…Mullikulam base will continue to function as a RSC
(Regional Security Centre) and will not be removed or relocated in any other
place as it will jeopardize National Security objectives,” at the December 26th
meeting last year.
Subsequently,
on the North Western Area Commander, Rear Admiral N.K.D. Nanayakkara’s return
(as he was out when we visited) to Mullikulam, and on hearing about our
experience, he was reported to have reprimanded the officers at the entrance of
the Base severely, and sent 3 Navy officers to the settlement to apologize for
delaying to keep the people waiting at the gate, without allowing them to visit
the church freely as promised.
And with
regards to fishing, more restrictions have come into place instead of
restrictions being relaxed. The letter states that the people are permitted to
fish during the day and that night fishing has been extended to 10pm. However,
the people say that before the 30th of January, 2013 they were
permitted to fish unrestricted over-night. This sudden restriction on night
fishing has posed much hardship for the villagers, as there are apparently very
few fish during the day time. Furthermore, prior to the December 26th
meeting last year, the people were permitted to fish along the entire 2½ kms
(equating 6 Paadu, which is a Deed to fish in a specific area) stretch
of coastline between the Modaragama river and Pemunthal. Now however, the
villagers are only able to fish in 1km (3 Paadu) radius as the remaining
1½km has been restricted due to “security reasons”, by the SLN. Therefore, the
villagers say that it is not an “extension” of the time allocated for night
fishing, but rather a reduction of that time.
Furthermore,
despite this more than 5 years since military established its control in
Mullikulam, since their return to Mullikulam in June, 2012, they have had to
subscribe to a ‘Pass System’ authorizing them to fish in the same waters that
they used to fish unrestricted before their displacement. Unlike in other parts
of the country, the SLN plays the dominant role in regulating the fishing. Each
fisherman must get himself registered with the Mannar Fisheries Authority, who
will then send a registration letter authorizing them to fish in the demarcated
6 Paadu, to the SLN, who will in turn issue a pass to the registered
fisherman. So far, 130 fishermen (including those who take part in Maadal fishing,
which is mostly carried out from the shore), from the Malankaadu settlement
have been registered and issued with a pass from the SLN. Every morning the
fishermen must hand over their photocopy of the pass to the SLN and take the
original to sea with them. On their return, they need to exchange the passes
once again before returning home.
In relation
to their cultivation lands, 450 acres fall within the Naval base, and is
therefore still inaccessible to the villagers for cultivation. They are only
permitted to cultivate the 640 acres that is located North of the canal.
Furthermore, of the 7 tanks that were originally accessible to the people, they
can now access only two, Pulliyankulam and Addappankulam, of which the latter
lies along the 750m border, and is therefore meant to be shared by both the SLN
and the people. The people however said that they do not make use of the shared
tank as Navy officers bathe there and they do not want to create unnecessary
problems. Furthermore, as the 5 tanks within the Navy occupied lands have not
been maintained during the war, they are no longer functional, and even many of
the people’s original paddy lands inside the base are no longer fertile as the
SLN has built direct access roads that run across the paddy lands.
However, in
reference to some of the SLN’s claims in terms of infrastructural development,
some progress made to date. Following is a list of claims and the progress made
as of 13th March, 2013. (Based both on feedback from the people and
first-hand visits to the sites);
-
The SLN is constructing 26 houses for resettlement in Malankaadu (near where
the people currently reside in a temporary camp). – 75% complete. But the
people were also very concerned that they had yet to hear any news regarding
the commitment of 130 houses to be constructed under the Indian Housing Scheme.
-
Renovation of the Church complex – 25% complete, although the SLN letter says
40%.
-
As for the demarcation of land between the people and the SLN, the letter
states that the Navy camp is confined to the South of the canal, and the people
to the North. The people confirm this demarcation.
-
Approximately 2 acres near the coast has been cleared for a public cemetery,
although the SLN letters only claims to have cleared ½ an acre.
-
The SLN has constructed 2 concrete pedestals to place water tanks on, in the
school. It has not donated two water tanks to the school as per the letter.
-
A school bus service is run free of charge by the SLN, and has been in
operation since the MN/Mullikulam R.C.T.M. School re-opened on the 6th
of February, 2013. The bus picks up 35 students, 2 teachers and 2 cooks from
the Malankaadu settlement daily at 6.45am and drops them back by 1.45pm.
-
In accordance with the letter, the SLN has provided drinking water via bowzers
once every two days to, and constructed two toilets at, the settlement in
Malankaadu when the villagers first returned to Mullikulam in June 2012.
However, with regards to providing the villagers with a generator to supply
electricity, the 1400 Horse Power generator they were given by the SLN at the
end of January, broke down after two weeks. Having then returned it to the SLN
for repairs, they have yet to be provided with a replacement. However, as the
house construction in ongoing nearby, and generators are in use for the
construction work, the settlement too gets a daily power supply whenever the
generators are on. Villagers say that times vary from day to day.
-
The letter also mentions that having taken into consideration the people’s
appeals to extend the grace period for using nylon nets, as they were badly
off, that they had extended its’ usage till the 28th of February,
2013. However, the people say that following a meeting on the 8th of
February, 2013, at the SLN base, it had been agreed on that the period be
extended a further 6 months till July, 2013.
-
The letter states the SLN has cleared 1.5km stretch of road from the beach to
the village. Villagers say that about 2kms have been cleared, but as it is only
about 13ft wide, the Survey Department had recommended that it be widened
further as it was not as wide as a regular road should be. The SLN had promised
to widen it according to the Survey Department’s recommendations.
-
According to the letter, Navy has employed two women from the village and
appointed them as primary school teachers. They have received two months
payment of Rs. 30,000 per month, from February 2013 to date. It is also
mentioned that the SLN had requested for the villagers to send their children
to the Seva Vanitha Pre-School, located in the school premises in Mullikulam,
where about 10 children of Navy officers currently attend school. However, the
children’s parents had been reluctant to send their children to this pre-school
as it is run by the SLN, so now their children attend pre-school in a
make-shift cadjun hut at the settlement, which switches between being a
Sacristy (part of a Church), meeting place, community notice board area and
pre-school, depending on the need of the hour.
-
As for the clearing of internal access roads, as per the Mullikulam Village
Plan jointly proposed by the Urban Development Authority and Survey Department,
at the meeting held on the 6th of February, 2013 at the Mullikulam
Government Agent’s office, the villagers said that they had not seen the plan,
but that work was currently underway to clear the internal access roads. The
villagers have been told that they will be shown a plan on the 19th
of March, 2013.
The people
also told us about how approximately 25 Navy families now live in their lands
and that 33 houses have been repaired and occupied by the SLN, with more than
20 female Navy personnel having taken up residence within the former hospital
building. Furthermore, of the two school buildings, only one has still been
released for the 35 students from Mullikulam to study in. The remaining
building is still being utilized to conduct Civil Engineering classes for the
SLN.
Whilst some
limited progress has taken place since the December 26th (2012)
meeting, the people of Mullikulam have not been given any specific deadlines
regarding either the completion of the SLN’s work, or when they would be able
to return to some semblance of normalcy.
Overall,
Mullikulam people’s wait to live in freedom, dignity remains a distant dream.
[1] The Tamil Canadian Elders for
Human Rights, SL Archbishop collaborates with Gotabhaya in militarization
land grab – http://thetamilelders.org/index.php/eelam-news/item/193-sl-archbishop-collaborates-with-gotabhaya-in-militarization-land-grab
[2] WATCHDOG, Sri Lanka Navy
vs. the people of Mullikulam - http://groundviews.org/2013/01/24/sri-lanka-navy-vs-the-people-of-mullikulam/
[3] As stated in a 13 point
letter, dated 21st February, 2013 sent by Vice Admiral J.S.K.
Colombage, Commander of the Navy, to the Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu
Joseph, on the progress made by them in relation to the resettlement process of
the people of Mullikulam.
[4] As said at the meeting with
the Mullikulam people on the 26th of December, 2012.
Groundviews
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