Govt will re-settle displaced in own land

The Government will take measures to re-settle people of Jaffna displaced by the conflict in their ancestral lands as soon as the humanitarian operations in the North are concluded, said Plantation Industries Minister D. M. Jayaratne.

The Minister said so at a meeting held at the Rahumaniya Muslim Vidyalaya, Illawatura to mark the laying of foundation stone for a new school building recently.

Jayaratne said people belonging to Tamil and Muslim Communities were among these displaced civilians. A majority of them were presently temporarily housed in Colombo and other areas in the South.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government would provide the environment necessary for them to live in dignity once again by restoring their lost properties.

He said the SLFP was a party which had always catered to the welfare of minorities. It was the Sirima Bandaranaike Government which declared Prophet Mohamed’s birthday as a public holiday on a proposal made by him. Jayaratne said Gampola had a large concentration of Muslims after Akurana and Udunuwara in the Kandy district.

There was a false notion that Muslims generally voted UNP.

It was apparent that Muslims had rallied round to support the UPFA at the forthcoming elections.

Savings pass books with a deposit of Rs. 1,000 each was also distributed among 25 students under a programme sponsored by UPFA candidate Nizar Hadjiar.

Petroleum Resources Minister Duminda Dissanayake and several others also spoke.