Displaced families from Keppapulavu spent their third May Day on the streets, marking the 791st day of protests at the military occupation of their land.
"We, the natives of Keppapilavu are on our 191st day of protest for our native land as of today. We are praying for the civilians who were killed during the bombings to be at rest," the families said in a statement on May Day last week.
"We are celebrating the labour day on the street for the third time during our protest. We too are farmers and fishermen. Ten years have passed since we lost our right to live in our native land. We have been protesting from the street for the past three years. However, the government is unable to give us a solution yet.
Even though the execution process was handed over to the Governor of the Northern Province when representatives of the people spoke about the land issue at the meeting of the Development Committee which was held at the Presidential Secretariat, we are yet to see any action although a month has passed.
We are continuing our protest for our native land even though there is no guarantee for life today. We are engaged in this protest to get back our lands.
Anything could happen to us anytime and we are scared about that. Now a state of emergency is declared in the country. We are continuing the protest even though gathering in large numbers is prohibited.
We should get back our land soon. We will not abandon our protest no matter what until our land is released. We will continue our protest, said the people. They also requested that the Government and the representatives of the people should take necessary action to release their native land.
We request the Government and the international community to show some interest in our issue and give us a solution soon.”
