The Jathika Hela Urumaya will resettle the Sinhalese who were chased out of their native places in the North and the East, if the government delays resettling them.

"The Government has so far failed to keep its promise of resettling the Sinhalese who had been chased out by the LTTE from the North and the East. We have raised this issue a number of times, yet thousands of Sinhalese have still not been compensated or assisted to return to their houses and lands although over two decades have lapsed," General Secretary of the JHU, Omalpe Sobhitha Thera told The Island yesterday.

Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims had lived in harmony in Northern and Eastern Provinces from time immemorial, he said.

"Prior to July 1983, there were over 48,000 Sinhalese people living in the Jaffna Peninsula alone. The Sinhalese were living in the North and the East for generations. Their homeland was in the Northern and Eastern provinces. Most of them had their own well-settled business establishments and agricultural lands etc. Others served as government or private sector employees. Since 1977, the Sinhalese who lived in these two provinces suffered under the atrocities of the separatists. A large number of persons were massacred. Thousands of others were evicted forcibly by the LTTE from time to time and some were compelled to leave from their homes due to the threat by LTTE which was hell bent on their ‘ethnic cleansing’ operations.

"Like the previous governments, the incumbent one too is only concerned with resettling Tamil people. Some Muslim people too had been assisted to get back to their homes and lands. Who is going to resettle the Sinhalese citizens and when?" Sobhitha Thera asked.

"There were many mechanisms to redress the damage Tamils suffered in the conflict. For example, commissions had been appointed to address the grievances of the Tamils affected by the ethnic violence during Black July 1983 and granted redress to the victims. Compensation was paid to them. Justice should be meted out irrespective of race, religion or any other differences," he said.

The thera said the JHU would mobilize its support bases and take the initiative to resettle the Sinhalese and would begin in the East. "The Government has been given documentary details of Sinhalese inhabitants who were evicted from the North and the East since 1977. These details have been ascertained and their lands identified together with houses, business premises and other immovable assets they had lost. Those who lost their business, vocational and educational opportunities have been identified. Details related to the number of Sinhalese schools, either destroyed or closed and the destroyed temples within the two provinces have been drawn up he said.

The plan was to resettle the evicted persons in the lands and premises which they occupied at the time of eviction and to urge the Government to compensate them, he said.

It had been approved by the party’s Central Committee and the party has commenced meeting other organizations both international and local that could support its move, Sobhitha Thera added.