Sri Lanka President Anura Dissanayake promises return of Tamils’ land grabbed by state agencies 

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake pledges to return Tamil lands, hold elections, and address key concerns in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday (November 10, 2024) assured Tamils that their land —currently held by state agencies — will be returned by his government.

Mr. Dissanayake, who was elected to the country’s top office in September, made the pledge at a public rally in Jaffna, days ahead of Sri Lanka’s November 14 parliamentary polls. His promise evoked instant cheer and applause from the sizeable crowd gathered at an open ground adjoining St. Anthony’s Church in the coastal suburb of Passaiyoor. Over the last few years, Tamils living across the island’s war-affected north and east have been agitating to reclaim their lands that state agencies, including the archaeology and forest departments, have forcibly taken over.

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Further, Mr. Dissanayake said elections to the country’s now-defunct provincial councils and local bodies will be held soon. “We will make sure that your own representatives can lead and govern your areas,” he said, in his first rally in the Tamil-majority area after being elected President. All the same, he made no direct reference to Tamils’ enduring demand for greater power devolution and a political settlement to the ethnic question that his manifesto said would be addressed through a new constitution.

The scale of Sunday’s meeting as well as locals’ participation appeared starkly different to his last public meeting in Jaffna, that was held in an indoor auditorium with a significantly smaller crowd, ahead of the presidential polls. In the September 21 Presidential election, former Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa emerged the most popular candidate in Tamil-majority areas.

Acknowledging his poor performance then, Mr. Dissanayake said: “We got just over 27,000 votes in Jaffna. This was because we did not convey our message effectively to the Tamil-speaking people. It was also because we did not work as hard in the north as we did in the [Sinhala majority] south,” adding that the situation had been now rectified.

“So many of you showing up today shows that you are willing to place your trust in us,” President Dissanayake said, as he vowed to build a country where all citizens, regardless of ethnicity and religion feel equal.  Slamming past politicians for pitting the Sinhalese and Tamils against each other, he said: “I invite all of you, the people of Jaffna, to join me in this effort to change the political culture of our country.”