Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ruwan Ranasinghe, announced in Parliament on 7 October 2025 that all land currently held by Sri Lankan security forces in Trincomalee will soon be released for “tourism projects.” This announcement comes amid ongoing disputes over land rights in the Tamil homeland.
Trincomalee, a historically Tamil district, has long been a target of Sinhalisation policies. Since the end of the armed conflict in 2009, the Sri Lankan government has facilitated land grabs, enforced demographic changes, and repeatedly failed to return occupied land to its rightful civilian owners.
Ranasinghe stated that the move aims to boost tourist investment and promote regional development in the district. However, it remains unclear whether Tamils will be able to reclaim and return to the land that rightfully belongs to them.
Meanwhile, farmers in Muthunagar have been engaged in a continuous satyagraha protest in front of the Trincomalee District Secretariat. They demand the return of farmlands seized for a state-supported solar power project. According to the farmers, around 800 acres of agricultural land have been acquired for the project, and two local reservoirs were filled in to accommodate its development — further endangering the region’s fragile water resources.
The protesters have expressed frustration that, despite repeated promises of solutions by Sri Lankan authorities, their livelihoods remain under threat as corporate interests continue to take priority.
In July 2025, Tamil residents in Trincomalee held a peaceful demonstration opposing the leasing of land to outsiders. Protesters carried placards and chanted slogans, demanding that the land be returned to the local community. They voiced their anger over the ongoing injustice surrounding land rights in the region.
Further evidence of the Sinhalisation of Trincomalee emerged during the 2025 budget debate earlier this year. Shanmugan Kugathasan, an Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Member of Parliament, revealed that 3,820 acres of land had come under the control of Sinhala Buddhist monks under the guise of “Pooja Bhoomi.” This term refers to land seized for Buddhist religious purposes in the Tamil homeland.
This development adds to a troubling pattern of Buddhist temples being constructed on Tamil-owned land, often protected by military and police forces, despite the minimal presence of a Buddhist population in the area.
http://www.tamilguardian.com/content/tamil-land-held-sri-lankan-security-forces-be-released-tourism-development