2026-02-06 / Private Notice Questions: MSMEs and Kurukkalmadam Pilgrims 2026-02-06
## Summary
Hon. Hizbullah raised a Private Notice Question concerning the 1990 abduction and killing of over 100 Muslim pilgrims returning from Hajj at Kurukkalmadam, Batticaloa, allegedly perpetrated by the LTTE, whose remains are believed to be buried in a mass grave near Kurukkalmadam beach. He noted that despite a 2014 Magistrate's Court order directing excavation of the suspected grave, no excavation has taken place in the intervening period. The speaker acknowledged that approximately Rs. 2.9 million had been allocated and that the Minister had previously committed to supporting immediate excavation, but cited the non-release of funds as the cause of continued delay, with the Magistrate most recently requesting additional funds at a hearing on 6 January 2026. He called on the Minister to immediately release the required funds to the Kaluwanchikudi Divisional Secretariat so that excavation, DNA identification, and reburial according to family wishes could proceed, delivering justice to victims' families after nearly 35 years.
Justice for Muslim Pilgrims Killed in Kurukkalmadam, Batticaloa in 1990 — Private Notice Question under Standing Order 27(2):
Hon. Minister, on 12 July 1990, after performing Hajj, Muslim pilgrims returning to Kattankudy were abducted on the Kalmunai–Batticaloa main road at Kurukkalmadam by the LTTE, as per a case (B/172/2014) filed on 09.04.2014 in the Kaluwanchikudi Magistrate’s Court by Abdul Majeed Mohamed Rauf of Kattankudy. Over 100 were forcibly disappeared; their belongings were seized; they were killed and allegedly buried near the Kurukkalmadam beach. On 28 April 2014, the learned Magistrate ordered the relevant Departments to take all steps to excavate the suspected mass grave. Yet to date it has not been excavated.
This concerns over 100 Sri Lankan citizens who were forcibly disappeared. Their relatives have a moral right to know what befell them. Therefore, the human remains in the Kurukkalmadam mass grave should be exhumed, identified through DNA analysis, and then, after religious rites as desired by families, reinterred—thus delivering justice.
After I raised this previously, you visited the site and stated in this House that excavations should commence immediately and that full support would be given. About Rs. 2.9 million has been allocated, but non-release of funds has delayed matters, and at the last hearing on 06.01.2026, the Magistrate sought additional funds. I understand the Kaluwanchikudi Divisional Secretariat has been made responsible for the excavation. Will you please release the required funds to the Kaluwanchikudi Divisional Secretariat immediately so that excavations proceed urgently and, after DNA and religious rites, the remains may be reinterred, finally delivering justice to the victims’ families after nearly 35 years?