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Solution eludes Kalmunai DS dispute; boundary issue major snag
An amicable solution still eludes the dispute over a separate divisional secretariat for the Kalmunai North Tamils although the ministry has assured the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that a solution will be found this week.
Local Government Ministry Secretary Gamini Seneviratne said talks were still continuing between Ministry officials and Tamil and Muslim party representatives but no decisions had been taken yet.
On Thursday, TNA leader R. Sampanthan expressed hope, saying, “the ministry has assured his party that a solution will be found by August 10.”
However, TNA frontliner M.A. Sumanthiran said he believed the government was now backtracking on its assurance to upgrade the Kalmunai North Divisional Secretariat (KNDS) sub office to a fully fledged divisional secretariat.
Following a death-fast protest by Tamil activists who demanded a separate divisional secretariat for the Tamils, the Government had agreed to appoint an accountant to the sub office as a first step towards upgrading the office.
Although Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local government Minister Vajira Abeywardena had said that an accountant had already been appointed, residents said no such appointment had been made so far.
When asked, Ministry Secretary Seneviratne said his office had not received the letter to appoint an accountant.
In April, a committee was appointed to hear submissions from all parties, but its work came to a halt following the Easter Sunday bombings.
Muslim political parties, which oppose the formation of a separate divisional secretariat, said there would be no solution to the problem unless the areas were divided as in British times.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Parliamentarian M.A.M. Harris told the Sunday Times the boundaries should be re-demarcated to be congruous with the British time boundaries. He claimed that the town council created in 1897 had a 80% Muslim population, and accordingly, five divisions were given to the Muslims and two to the Tamils. He said the UNP government during President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s time changed the structure in favour of the Tamil community.
Mr Harris said that during the war period in 1989, the sub divisional office was set up and its boundaries were drawn but he believed it was illegal. He insisted that the areas should be re-demarcated taking into account the needs of the Muslim people.
He said the Muslim leadership was agreeable to giving six divisions to the Tamils while having 17 divisions to themselves. The six areas will be Pandiruppu, Periya Nilavelli, Mannachenai, Senakudiruppu, Napatimunai and a section of Kalmunai town. Together, these areas will have 21 Grama Niladhari divisions in all.
Hassan Ali, General Secretary of the United Peace Alliance which supports Rishard Bathiudeen’s All Ceylon Makkal Congress, said he also believed that to resolve the dispute, the non-contiguous areas could be brought under Muslim or Tamil divisional secretariat divisions.
He charged that the 1987 delimitation committee discriminated against the majority Muslims in the area and formed new pradeshiya sabhas.
This was done without consulting the people, he said.
According to the TNA, the dispute goes back to 1989 when Kalmunai was divided into 58 Grama Niladhari divisions with 29 divisions incorporating Tamil areas and 29 divisions Muslim areas. Two areas were given two sub offices with the Muslim sub-office being the main office in charge of land and finance.
The Tamils claim they did not receive a fair deal through the sub office arrangement. They said that as a result, they were unable to make the best use of their land resources, plan socioeconomic activities and participate in Government poverty alleviation programmes.
Following protests by Tamils, a cabinet decision was taken in 1993 to grant them a separate divisional secretariat with powers to manage land and finances.
The TNA claims that this move did not materialise as successive governments, bowed to pressure from some Muslim leaders. Thus for the last 30 years, the sub office had not been upgraded.
There are also issues related to the boundary. The Tamils live in the northern part of Kalmunai and the Muslims in the south. Both communities have 29 Grama Niladhari divisions each. However the demography has now changed due to Muslim traders buying land and settling in Tamil areas. Also many Tamils have sold their lands to the Muslims and migrated abroad. The Kalmunai North’s population stands at 57,000 Muslims and 34,000 Tamils.
The Muslims now want the boundaries to be redrawn and are demanding the areas where the Muslims have settled should be added to Muslim divisions. All in all they want eight more Grama Niladhari divisions joined to the Muslim-dominated divisional secretariat divisions.
Mr. Sumanthiran said this included an area called Istanbul, which was originally a Sinhala colony.
He said the TNA had no issue with the re-demarcation of the boundaries and even willing to give up some parts of the Tamil areas occupied by the Muslims, but the Muslims want more of the Tamil areas.
The Muslims have agreed to the upgrading of the sub office to the status of a divisional secretariat for Tamils. But their disagreement is over the boundaries.
“We are happy if the government wants to settle the issue once and for all, but much time has been wasted as this problem has been going on for 30 years,” he said.