MP Rishad Bathiudeen says he will go to the Supreme Court (SC) against the verdict of the Court of Appeal regarding the clearing of the Kallaru Forest Reserve near Wilpattu National Park.
He mentioned this in response to a query made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing Easter Sunday attacks.
The remanded MP testified to the PCoI last Saturday (21) for the second time from the Welikada Magazine Prison via Skype.
During the testimony, the Commission questioned the MP on how many war-displaced Sinhalese people were resettled in the North and East when he was the Minister in charge of resettlement.
In response, he said: “Only 2% of the people in the Northern Province are Sinhalese and 5% are Muslims. The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) expelled about 100,000 Muslims from their villages during the war.
“The resettlement process began in 2009 under the leadership of then Minister Basil Rajapaksa. I was not the Minister in charge of the subject at that time, but I supported that programme.
“Around 5,000 Sinhalese living in the vicinity of Monaragala and Hambantota were resettled in the area called Kala Bogaswewa Namalgama. There were large trees that were more than 100 years old in that area as well. Those trees were also cut down during resettlement. But no one complained against them.
“Everyone is only talking about the Wilpattu-Kallaru clearing. There really was no logging. We are going to the Supreme Court against the decision.”
It is noteworthy that the Chairman and a member of the PCoI were both judges representing the Court of Appeal Judge Bench that gave the verdict in the Kallaru Forest Reserve case.
The remanded MP testified to the PCoI last Saturday (21) for the second time from the Welikada Magazine Prison via Skype.
During the testimony, the Commission questioned the MP on how many war-displaced Sinhalese people were resettled in the North and East when he was the Minister in charge of resettlement.
In response, he said: “Only 2% of the people in the Northern Province are Sinhalese and 5% are Muslims. The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) expelled about 100,000 Muslims from their villages during the war.
“The resettlement process began in 2009 under the leadership of then Minister Basil Rajapaksa. I was not the Minister in charge of the subject at that time, but I supported that programme.
“Around 5,000 Sinhalese living in the vicinity of Monaragala and Hambantota were resettled in the area called Kala Bogaswewa Namalgama. There were large trees that were more than 100 years old in that area as well. Those trees were also cut down during resettlement. But no one complained against them.
“Everyone is only talking about the Wilpattu-Kallaru clearing. There really was no logging. We are going to the Supreme Court against the decision.”
It is noteworthy that the Chairman and a member of the PCoI were both judges representing the Court of Appeal Judge Bench that gave the verdict in the Kallaru Forest Reserve case.