Some people easily forgot that Ampara was part of Batti district, before GOSL made Ampara into a new district
Ampara then became the focus of colonisation and ethnic cleansing, the Tamil proportion reducing to half its original. Many place names have been changed to Sinhala names, and signs are in Sinhala language. Only reason why present day Batticaloa area did not experience the same demographic changes is because of LTTE domination in the area in the 1990s.
these shameful TMVP idiots have nothing to say about these things.
http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport3.htm#t1
In the Amparai District, while Tamils were being evicted from one place after the other, there was an illusion that Thirukkovil and its environs were safe because of the personal generosity of the local STF commander. The last eviction was from Sorikalmunai on 18th September. Several tens of thousands of refugees were now gathered in Thirukkovil, Thambiluvil, Kallianthivu, Sinnathottam and Vinayagapuram.
Tamils have been driven out of areas in the Amparai District where their economic life was centred. This included colonies 11, 13, 4, 7, 15 and 6 in Central Camp, and also Malwattai, Walathapiddy, Mallikaitivu, Puthunagar, Kanapathipuram, Veeramunai and Sorikalmunai in the Central Camp police area. Sinhalese who were in Cenral Camp colonies 3, 10, 9 and 26 had left on their own at the outbreak of troubles. Only the Muslims remain in colonies 12, 5, as well as some in 6 and 15. Tamils had also teen driven away from settlements in the Gal Oya scheme such as Inginiyagala by Sinhalese hooligans backed by the police. In July, barely a month after the war, 9 Sinhalese villages in the Central Camp colonisation scheme along the border were administratively transferred from Batticaloa to Amparai District.
Amparai town, serves as the district capital of a district that still has a Tamil speaking majority, But anyone going through the town will hardly see any sign in Tamil - nearly all in Sinhalese and English. West of the town is the Gal Oya tank and the agricultural colonisation scheme. In successive waves of anti Tamil violence since 1958, the Tamil presence in the scheme and in Amparai town has been progressively diluted
This is evident: in the way Amparai, the capital of the district by that name has been handled. Its large Tamil middle class population has again been decimated. From the 50s and 60 s, the administration of this largely Tamil speaking district has been Sinhalised, facilitating, state sponsored colonisation of Sinhalese
Edited By - pharoah - 10 Mar 2008 22:44:05 GMT |