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Lanka Marxists press for rights of displaced by India-backed

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Press Trust of India Colombo
The Marxist JVP today lodged a complaint with Lanka Human Rights Commission over the rights of 30,000 people displaced by the India-backed coal power plant in Trincomalee, the former LTTE stronghold.

The JVP trade union leader KD Lal Kantha said they had moved the Human Rights Commission (HRC) over the plight of the thousands of people displaced in Sampur due to the construction of the 500 MW coal power plant.

The work at the coal power plant, a joint venture between Sri Lanka and India's National Thermal Power Corporation, began in 2013, much behind the schedule.

Sampur was a key stronghold of LTTE in the east during their nearly three-decade-long military battle with the government troops.
 

The Lankan Army took control of Sampur in 2006 and created a High Security Zone which the Tamil rights groups claimed had displaced around 30,000 people.

Since the beginning of the construction work for the power plant, the displaced people have not been allowed to return to their original lands, the Eastern People's Voice movement said.

The Sampur coal power plant is regarded one of India's largest projects in post conflict Sri Lanka.

Founded in 1965, the Marxist JVP is also known as the People's Liberation Front.

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First Published: Feb 05 2016 | 8:58 PM IST

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