Farmers have expressed concern that Sinhala families from other districts are re-occupying and cultivating the Mayiladuthurai and Madhavanai grazing areas in the Batticaloa district.
Sumanthiran, President’s Counsel and Member of Parliament on behalf of the Batticaloa District Parliamentarians, had filed a case in the Colombo Supreme Court last year alleging that Sinhala people from other areas had encroached on and cultivated hundreds of acres of land in the Madhavanai grazing area in Mayiladuthurai.
In this case, the cultivators in the area had agreed to leave. The farmers say that the area has been accepted as a grazing area by the lawyers appearing on behalf of the Sinhalese people (occupiers) in the court and the land is being reclaimed and cultivated again.
The farmers state that despite government support being brought to the attention of parliamentarians, no action has been taken so far.
