BACKGROUND of the Village:
Poththuvil is a town situated on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka in the Poththuvil electorate within the district of Ampara (Digamadulla). All three major Sri Lankan communities live here and the largest of them are Tamils speaking Muslims, the second largest population is Tamils and then the Sinhalese make the third largest population of the electorate. There are also a settlement of Telugu speaking gypsies in the electorate.
Poththuvil town is bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the East, by Thirukovil Divisional Secretariat Division on the North, by Lahugala DS Division on the West and the South. There are 63 small villages (hamlets) found in Poththuvil Divisional Secretariat Division and is presently administered by segregating them as 27 Grama Niladhari Divisions. Before the year 1958, this area was part of Batticaloa district. When the Ampara (Digamadulla) district was created in 1958, Poththuvil area was annexed to it.
Poththuvil town is bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the East, by Thirukovil Divisional Secretariat Division on the North, by Lahugala DS Division on the West and the South. There are 63 small villages (hamlets) found in Poththuvil Divisional Secretariat Division and is presently administered by segregating them as 27 Grama Niladhari Divisions. Before the year 1958, this area was part of Batticaloa district. When the Ampara (Digamadulla) district was created in 1958, Poththuvil area was annexed to it.
Now, Poththuvil DS Division is made up of 265 square kilometres of land area and 42,908 people live there (2024 census). Of this population, 34,440 Muslims make up 80.26 %, 7,584 Tamils make up 17.60% and 788 Sinhalese make up 1.80%.
The primary economy of the area is agriculture. People also engage in animal husbandry, coastal fishing, mid-level business as well as in tourism industry for their livelihhod.
This area is rich in un-spoilt natural beauty with full of natural resources. Beautiful jungles, pleasurable beaches, awesome rocks, cool and placid water bodies also add more beauty to this town. The world’s 10th best surfing location – Arugam Bay – is found in this town. And adjoining this bay one of the best beach Ulle is also here. And the said Kanagar Kiramam is a beach front village within a GN Division in the Poththuvil DS Division.
The boundaries of Kanagar Kiramam village are Poththuvil – Akkaraipattu Highway in the West and Bay of Bengal in the East. In the North it has got Komari and in the South the Urani. According to available information that during 1990, along the main road (Poththuvil – Akkaraipattu Highway), it is said there were 30 brick houses along the road and along the beach coast there were nearly 50 houses. During this time it is said that each family had land property ranging from 3 acres to 5 acres. The villagers had been engaged in high land crops cultivation in their lands other than their houses and made their lives and livelihoods.
DISPLACEMENT of the People:
From the period when the armed warfare reached peak and till 1990, there had been three big battles occurred along the Kanagar Kiramam main road. On the west, beyond the main road there was (and it still is) a very thick jungle. As the consequence of the reprisals, the settlers who had been living in the brick houses along the main road started moving away from the place slowly. In such a situation, on 01.06.1990, Poththuvil Police Station was surrounded by Tamil militants. As retaliation the army and the Muslim home guards invaded Kanagar Kiramam and the adjoining village, Urani, and set fire to the houses of people and massacred several residents. Due to this a section of the people of this village migrated to the adjoining villages such as Komari and Thirukovil. Another section of the people found asylum in the Methodist Mission College as IDPs.
ABDUCTION AND MISSING PERSONS:
On 23.06.1990, the police who entered Methodist Mission College Refugee Camp took away 21 IDPs for inquiry. Following this, on another day the Special Task Force and armed Muslims entered the IDP Camp and took away 250 people for inquiry. To this day these 271 civilians have not returned home. Following the abduction of the people from the IDP Camps, rest of the people fled Kanagar Kiramam and Urani fled from their homes abandoning their villages completely.
STRUGGLE TO RECOVER LANDS:
From 1990 to 2015, about a quarter of a century, forced displaced families from Kanagar Kiramam had been living in adjacent villages and with friends and relations as IDPs and their number of families increased. Even though the civil war had come to an end and the IDPs were resettled in other areas, no attempt was initiated to resettle Kanagar Kiramam IDPs in their original lands in the district of Ampara. When the displaced people themselves tried to return to their lands the state departments such as the Forest Department, Wild Life Department and the military obstructed them from resettling.
RESETTLEMNT:
The location that is provided for the 73 families is a high land. In order to get ground water for their use they had to drill 150 feet below the surface. Even then there is a doubt whether the water taken as such is suitable for drinking purposes. Further this area seems to contain hard rocks 18 feet below the surface. The returnees who came to resettle are seen travelling 5 Km distance to collect drinking water. Not only that problem but also they have to confront wild elephants that freely roam in this area.
Many social activists from this area have opined that Muslim politicians and some Muslim officials insist that Muslim people also be granted lands when the land is distributed for the returnee Tamil population.
Most of the displaced people from Kanagar Kiramam are in their old age and found to be under the poverty line. They do not have financial resources to put up houses for themselves. Kanagar Kiramam had been a complete Tamil village previously and in such a situation it is our duty to take constructive actions to redeem the village from being grabbed by the other communities and to help the IDPs of Kanagar Kiramam resettle in their original village.
NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE :
1. Housing - Although 73 families are permitted to return and resettle in the identified locations by the government in Kanagar Kiramam, many families do not have the financial capacity to put up their permanent brick houses.
2. Drinking Water – Urgently and essentially needed
3. Irrigation water – In order to engage in crops cultivation for livelihood in the provided agricultural land the settlers need agro-wells and water pumps
4. Marketing – sales centers are needed so that the agro produce of the settlers can be sold from there.
5. Community Infrastructure – the community center for the village, Primary Health Clinics, Early Childhood Care and Development Center (Pre-school) for the village need to be constructed.
6. Internal access roads within the housing settlement need to be constructed
7. Protection from Wild Animals – In order to prevent threats from wild elephants electric fence need to be constructed and honey bee keeping need to be introduced
8. Establish a place of worship for psycho social healing and establish harmonious community
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