“We were able to win our lands with our collective and untiring efforts as a community. There were a number of people, groups, and organizations who supported us to make this effort a success. Praja Abilasha (“People’s Aspirations”) Network, as well as Praja Shakthi (“People’s Power”) Development Foundation (PSDF) are two of the significant ones. We will never forget those who supported us and guided us until we achieved our goal in this process”, said Ms. U. M. Chandrani Malkanthi, paying her gratitude to individuals and groups who had helped the villagers of Karuwalagaswewa in the struggle for their land.

In 1994 these peope had received houses through the Village Awakening Program of the then government, and two years later the village was named “Buddhidasungama” in 1996. There were 305 houses and more than 1200 people settled under this scheme.

“We knew this area was covered under the Vilpattu Forest, but we did not anticipate having to face such situations of evictions by the government because the Village Awakening Program is an undertaking planned by the government itself on behalf of the entire housing program for the landless and houseless people. As our livelihoods were strained by the lack of land, we expected this to be a new era for our lives, even if we realized the hazard of elephants would always be there”, added Malkanthi.

The difficulties started when the newly elected government gazetted the area as the Thabbowa Sanctuary on 19 July 2002 without any consultation or resettlement plan for the people who were living in this area.

Aloycious Fernando, Malkanthi’s husband, also joined the dialogue and added some of the missing points to the discussion. “We were highly disturbed with this top down development approach, because it forced us to leave the area while losing our belongings, including the planted trees for our next generations to use. We started some animal husbandry activities for our livelihoods and established small business centers along the road. We were able to initiate milk collection centers to sell the milk from our cows. All these became our way of life and provided our main income to survive. But the overall concern of the wildlife department was to protect the elephants, not the life and livelihoods of the people.”

“Imagine how much money is wasted because of demolished houses? Around 275 houses have been destroyed by now. Think of it, if per house the costs are around Rs.500,000 ($4,375), it means that more than 137.5 million Rupees ($1,203,290) is lost from the national economy. Who pays this money in very poor economies of countries like Sri Lanka? We, the people, eventually become the victims of the unplanned development projects of the governments.

Why are plans that are intended to build up livelihoods not based on a long term vision for the country’s development? Why does one government change the development plans adopted by a previous government and put that way the people in tremendous difficulty? This is what has been happening since independence and has been continuing on in the same manner for 60 years.”

The proposed Elephant Pass is a critical access road to the northern region of Sri Lanka, and there already existed an agreement between the Puttlam Divisional Secretary and the Buddidasungama community that the three kilometer area where their village is situated would be released from the pass on 05 July 2002. In itself the people did not disagree to the elephant pass proposal as such, but they did not consent to moving out from their houses. They preferred to implement a mechanism for a harmonious co-habitation of elephants and humans.

“We never expect elephants to be destroyed. But we can find ways to live together and not become victims of one another. The Divisional Secretary agreed to free our area before the politicians and the wildlife department declared this land as a sanctuary. But people did not want to leave the area, as they were settled and had built up their life there. Though a majority of the people left the area, those who were reluctant to change the social, economic, environmental and cultural patterns, decided they would not go away. So they started their fight to not have to abandon their village."

A.A. Jayawathie, the chair person for Praja Shakthi Development Foundation (PSDF), a partner organization of Praja Abhilasha, narrated how they became involved in the organizing process. “First of all, we helped the community get organized as a village development committee and created with our involvement Buddhidasungama Praja Shakthi Kantha Sanvidanaya.”

As the secretary to the committee Malkanthi was determined to struggle alongside the community. Malkanthi and the committee were able to motivate the entire community with the backing of PSDF. Although more than 275 families had left the place in frustration, the rest of the people, totaling around 37 families, continued the fight without fear and did so convincingly.

“We did not have any fear. We may lose our land and houses, but why should we give up while fighting as a collective body?”, was a statement by one of the village members.

The community members met with the District Secretariat of Puttlam, the assistant land commissioner, officials from the wildlife department, the Minister of Environmental Affairs, the Land Minister, as well as many of the government authorities to solve this problem. But these initiatives did not bear any successful results. The counsel received from a few lawyers on the land issue was not encouraging either, as they were adviced against taking their case to the courts. The community was determined, however, and tried still a few other ways to acquire the land where they were living. But there was no positive response from the authorities, as everybody was reluctant to go against the gazette notification of Thabbowa Sanctuary on 19 July 2002.

Eventually the community decided to go to the courts and demand electricity for their houses. “This was the tactic and a successful one”, said Malkanthi. “Praja Abilasha Network helped us by working with Praja Shakthi Development Foundation, and provided Rs.25,000 ($220) for the court case, which ended as a success”, she added. “They were behind us and motivating us, even when our members left the village one by one.”

Priyankara Costa, a community mobiliser of the area under Participatory Integrated Area Development Program[PIADS] and supporter of the villagers' initiative, shared his views of the community strength. “We saw the courage and determination of the women’s group and thought this was a very effective approach to work among communities in order to acquire the land and housing rights of the people at Buudidasungama.”

After the court case’s victory, the authorities agreed to provide electricity to the houses for the 37 families. Then the village members approached the wildlife department again and demanded the installation of an electric fence to prevent elephants from entering the village. At first the officials said there was no money and that all of the allocated funds were exhausted. But the people did not give up their efforts. They collected 97,000 Rupees ($850) and also contributed through Shramadana [free labour] to help build up the electric fence. Subsequently, the wild life department agreed to free an area of 3 kilometers from the elephant corridor for the community of Buddidasungama and fund the construction of the electric fence with government funds and people’s contributions.

The people of Buddidasungama village are proud to say that they were able to protect their lands and houses from destruction. They are getting ready again to farm their land, to raise animals, to collect milk, to start home gardens and many other projects to sustain their lives. They are united as a community now and have already started to plan for future development activities.

“Buddidasungama people have seen the results of their determination, courage, and untiring efforts for their rights. We need to share this with the other communities who face the same conditions all over the country now”, says Priyankara Costa, the coordinator of PIADS and also a Steering committee member of Praja Abilasha Network.

Francis Raajan, coordinator of the Praja Abilasha Network, stated with much enthusiasm for the future involvement, “The Karuwalagaswewa people’s situation and outcome are very clear indicators of the effective involvement on land issues of the Praja Abhilasha Network. When we approach issues tactfully, and guide communities in the right direction, people can and will gain their rights eventually. So we need to continue to adopt a system to mobilize them with determination until we win.”

The Karuwalagaswewa people are the heroes of their own destiny and proudly say, “ We who shaped the history at Karuwalagaswewa: We were the victims of the lack of organized planning by the government and foolishness of the politicians, but became winners with untiring and unbiased collective efforts of our community.”

We salute them for their future endeavors: Long Live People’s Struggles!