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LTTE demands eviction of tenant cultivators
Lucien Rajakarunanayake in Colombo,
Wednesday, March 27, 2002 6:30 am SLT.
Reports recently received from the political parties opposed to the LTTE
such as the Eelam People's Democratic Front (EPDP) and the Eelam People's
Revolutionary Front (EPRLF - Perumal Wing) that the LTTE is ordering
landlords to forcibly evict a large number cultivators, have been confirmed
as true by independent sources in the North and East.
In recent weeks certain unarmed cadres of the LTTE have been moving in
areas of the North and East that are not under its control, ordering the
landlords to take immediate steps to evict tenant cultivators who are
believed to be supporters of political parties opposed to the LTTE.
This has placed the landowners in a grave plight, as they consider it wrong
to forcibly evict tenant cultivators who they have trusted over the years,
and also fear the consequences of not carrying out the LTTE's orders. These
landlords fear making any complaints to government institutions about this
threat, as the LTTE may act against them for doing so. Similarly, the
tenant cultivators who have heard of this threat are also living in fear of
them being suddenly ousted from the land they have been tilling and living
in for several years.
It is understood that this latest order by the LTTE is to employ its own
supporters on these lands, and thereby obtain a larger share of the crop
and also move towards finally evicting the landlords, too. Officers of the
Department of Agrarian Services in some of these areas said no official
complaints had so far been received by them from landlords or tenants, but
were aware that such threats were being made by the LTTE.
Published: Tue Mar 26 20:06:23 EST 2002
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Sri Lanka cash in on success
This session has now ended.