Emergency Multi-Stakeholder Conference to Address Plantation Violence
18-May-2026.
Tamil Progressive Alliance Leader and Member of Parliament Mano Ganesan stated that Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala has agreed to convene an emergency conference involving all relevant stakeholders to address the increasing number of planned violent attacks against people living in plantation areas.
He made these remarks while addressing a special media briefing held in Colombo on May 16.
He further stated that violent attacks targeting innocent plantation residents have been continuously increasing in recent times. In order to respond to such violence and ensure the safety of plantation communities, he had called in Parliament for an emergency conference involving all parties.
Following this, he had made the request formally through an official letter and also reiterated the urgency directly over the phone to Minister Ananda Wijepala yesterday. Accepting the request, the Minister, with the consent of the Speaker, has directly assured him that the special conference will be convened at the Parliamentary complex on the coming Wednesday.
Ganesan noted that he had spoken in Parliament about recent violent incidents in the Ratnapura and Nuwara Eliya districts and sought the Minister’s attention. He added that MP Thondaman and the Opposition Leader had also raised these matters in Parliament.
He further stated that during a telephone conversation held last Saturday night, he personally briefed President Anura Kumara Dissanayake regarding these incidents and expressed serious concern over the situation.
Thereafter, he requested both verbally and in writing that the Minister convene a conference involving key stakeholders to find a permanent solution to the issue.
Accordingly, he insisted that Plantation and Community Infrastructure Minister K.V. Saman Vidyarathna, the Inspector General of Police, Deputy Inspectors General representing the Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Western and North Western Provinces, as well as Chief Executive Officers of all 22 regional plantation companies, be included in the conference.
Against this backdrop, another violent incident was reported on May 15 within the Udapussellawa Police Division, where an individual was brutally assaulted and admitted to hospital with serious injuries.
Considering the urgency of the matter and the increasing violence, it is essential that the conference be held without delay, as promised by the Minister, he said.
He also stated that he, along with three other MPs representing the Tamil Progressive Alliance and the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, as well as five prominent civil activists, will participate in the conference. The main objective is to formulate a stable and peaceful solution to the recurring violence in the upcountry plantation regions, he added.
