Batticola, Sri Lanka : Tamil dairy farmers representing the Eastern Province People’s Planning Forum launched a fresh demonstration outside the Batticaloa District Secretariat on Tuesday, November 3rd. According to the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), the protest was organized to demand the return of the Mayilathamadu and Mathavanai grazing lands.
This gathering immediately followed a larger protest on Monday, November 2nd, where hundreds of individuals gathered at the same secretariat to demand the removal of illegal settlers. Monday’s demonstration was abruptly halted when a court order was issued against 11 of its organizers, including Batticaloa Members of Parliament G. Srinesan and I. Srinaath.
Tamil cattle farmers have maintained continuous protests since September 2023, seeking the restoration of 3,025 hectares of customary pasture. These specific lands have traditionally provided vital grazing territory for Batticaloa’s dairy herds during the crop-cultivation season. The protesters’ primary demands include:
- The immediate restoration of access to traditional grazing grounds.
- The eviction of Sinhala settlers, whom the farmers describe as illegal encroachers.
- The enforcement of an existing court ruling concerning the disputed territory.
- Formal opposition to the Mahaweli Project, a state irrigation and settlement scheme. Farmers accuse the Mahaweli Authority of actively backing the settlers and threatening local dairy farmers.
MONLAR traces the origins of the current settler encroachment to the period immediately following the end of the Tamil liberation war in 2009. Settlers who moved into the Mayilathamadu and Mathavanai areas subsequently claimed that portions of the grazing territory were part of their ancestral villages.
The dispute was severely exacerbated when temporary land documents were issued to certain settler families during the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa faces accusations of overseeing war crimes and genocide against Tamils during his previous tenure as defense secretary.
The land dispute has severely impacted the local agricultural economy. Beyond the loss of grazing access, Tamil farmers report targeted violence against their livestock when the animals are released into the contested areas. MONLAR has documented numerous incidents of cattle being:
- Shot with firearms.
- Mutilated and injured with sharp weapons.
- Intentionally poisoned.
Consequently, milk production in Batticaloa has plummeted by 90 percent. The organization reports that daily dairy output has collapsed from approximately 5,000 liters to a mere 500 liters.
Despite the escalating tensions and economic fallout, government intervention has stalled. In September, the Sri Lankan government announced it would formally designate the disputed territory as official grazing land through a gazette notification, while simultaneously providing the settlers with alternative plots within the Mahaweli area. However, the government has set no official date for the gazetting, leaving the farmers’ access unresolved and the land vulnerable to ongoing disputes.