Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam
01 March 2017
LTTE – Relatives or Outsiders?
When two groups are not bound by Common
belief – they are naturally independent of each other. One does not have the
authority to punish or reward the other without express agreement between the Natural
leaders of the two groups. To my mind, the principles of Equal Opportunity are
based on this basic human value.
The Sri Lankan war happened due to lack of
respect for this basic principle of Sovereignty. Travelling to and from Jaffna
and Vavuniya in Northern Province, to Colombo in Western Province I was part of
the experience of Tamils and Sinhalese civilians being more and more natural
with each other and Tamils having the confidence to speak the language freely
while traveling by train, than they did before the war. Just this morning,
Jeevan of Thunaivi village who undertook some work for us in Colombo said that
he was much more comfortable to travel by public transport in Colombo than
before. I asked him as to whether he experienced language difficulty and he
said that he was able to manage with a mix of Tamil and Sinhalese – which he
learnt as an adult in Vaddukkoddai. I felt happier when Jeevan said he was
planning on bringing his family over to visit Colombo which is also home to me and
appreciate its multicultural values. To me that was confirmation of my efforts
being rewarded through the system of Natural Justice.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka,
the Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, MP stated on behalf of Sri Lanka, during his
recent contribution to Global Governance, through UN Human Rights Council:
[Mr. President,
This Council is familiar with Sri Lanka’s story. After
years of denial, disengagement, and self-isolation, the National Unity
Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe, proceeded to set our country on a transformative trajectory in
terms of human rights, good governance, rule of law, justice, reconciliation
and economic development.
The people of our country voted in large numbers
granting a resounding victory to President Sirisena at the election in January
2015. The voter turnout was the highest recorded for any Presidential
candidate, and in the North and the East, President Sirisena’s share of the
vote was also the highest ever as people placed their trust in President
Sirisena who they believe will not short change them as in the past. Therefore,
we not only owe the people who voted for us 2 years ago, but also to history to
uphold that trust, and we are committed to do so.]
When we vote, we work through the
structured system of Democracy as it operates in that place at that time. Where
this system is reliable – it manifests outcomes that would confirm the strong
influence of the system of Nature / Truth. We ultimately get returns as per our
own contribution to that system. The deeper our connection to Common purposes
the more satisfying the returns would be to one who operates close to the Soul.
Recently, during a meeting of Hindu leaders
in the ancient Hindu city of Thiruketheeswaram, in Mannar District of Northern
Province, the main participant Mr.
Nadesan, confirmed that he was driven by ‘Aanmeeham’ / the system of the
Soul. I fully endorsed this. There were
other young ones who were sharing their disappointment with the official system
to deliver as per their contribution to the official system. I said to them
that when I sued the then Prime Minister
of Australia the Hon John Howard – I did not have any expectations of winning
in Court. But when Truth ultimately delivered, I identified with my
contribution as per my Truth expressed in the language of
the Courts. I knew that my contribution was valuable to the Common Australian when
my book ‘Naan Australian’ reached the National Library of Australia – without
any particular effort on my part to take it there. Every person who contributed
to that passage is a manager of the system of Natural Justice. A nation relying
strongly in the religious pathway to maintain harmony – needs to focus more on
this ultimate delivery and less on interim outcomes which may be frivolous and
vexations in the Court of Truth and the system of the Soul with our Conscience
as our witness and our judge. Each person who is able to share her/his Truth of
her / his own free will, with her/his higher self and/or another, is pardoned and continues her/his journey as a
transformed person. Any punishment
beyond this is merely to confirm the authority of the punisher over the
punished and is needed for structural purposes.
One therefore needs to ask the question as
to whether those to whom LTTE were/are Terrorists are foreigners or relatives of the
group that the LTTE is natural part of. Common faith plus physical closeness
(biological and/or cultural) makes us relatives. With that Common faith – we
are outsiders to each other.
Reporter Shivanthi Ranasinghe states in her Ceylon Today article ‘Abandoned
soldiers of a forgotten war!’ :
[Though
the aforementioned bombings all took place in 2008, the railway authorities
have been living with the very possible bomb threats for much longer. The
Dehiwela train bombing on 24th July 1996 is a case in point. It is one of the
worst railway disasters we suffered. The LTTE stuffed four suitcases with explosives
and left it in four separate compartments on the same train. They then blasted
all four simultaneously during rush hour, killing 64 and injuring 400
civilians.
For a
very long time, we lived in fear of crowded places, suspicious of strangers,
especially if they bore unusual scars and panicked at the sight of unattended
parcels/luggage.
Families
refused to travel together. Mothers would wait by the school gates to escort
the child back home. Arriving home after a day's work was not a guarantee.
Rigorous security measures were forced to be adapted that inconvenienced the
commuters greatly. However, all bore it with great fortitude. The railway
authorities were really living a terrible nightmare. The popular adage then
was, we have to be lucky a million times, terrorists only once.
Today,
we have none of those concerns. Obviously, our safety is guaranteed to such an
extent that we have taken it for granted.
So
much so, that we have forgotten the hard battles we had to fight or the
sacrifices that were made. It is these sacrifices that are now translated into
disabled men.
They
were once 'whole' men.]
The above writer obviously makes no
connection between the LTTE and the Tamil community in Colombo who had to fear
not only the Sinhalese thugs but more importantly the Government which failed
to facilitate the feeling of safety for Tamils after repeated attacks by
Sinhalese on unarmed Tamils. To the extent those thugs were labeled as thugs
and not as Terrorists – the LTTE and the Community they belong/ed to, are
outsiders to that writer and others like her who call the LTTE ‘terrorists’. If
the actions of the LTTE are classified as rebellion – that community is
independent of the group that refers to them as Terrorists.
This is an active issue within the Tamil
Diaspora also. TELO (Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization) has been actively
drawing our attention to the plight of the fighters who have been grouped as
‘former’ fighters. It has been highlighted that they are insiders and not
outsiders. To the extent one believed that s/he was fighting / working on the
basis of common purpose – one is an ‘insider’ – whatever that common purpose
may be. It is the commonness in our belief that renders the authority of
relativity through which we reward and / or punish. One who has the position
but without the support of common belief is an abuser of power even when s/he
is idle occupier of that relative position. Hence one could be idle and become
guilty of war crimes / terrorism as the case may be.
A member of the Sri Lankan armed forces who
related to LTTE as per the official label given by the Sri Lankan Government is
limited to the return that the government has the authority to return. If the
label was way above that authority as per the Truth – whether known or otherwise
by such Government – then such member shares in the karma of excess punishment
which becomes a negative force of relativity which disturbs the thought order
of the punisher who actively uses the official order to her/his gain. Common
Law when practiced renders common order of thought. Hence customs that are
commonly practiced become Common Law for that group.
Majority Tamils, however critical of the
LTTE some of them may be – do not label the LTTE as Terrorists. Hence when it
comes to war related discussions – Tamils and Sinhalese are taken as
Communities that are independent of each
other. Within each Community – to the
extent an action is on the basis of
common belief – each member of the group is entitled to a share in the
rewards and punishments that the whole groups has earned. It is this common
belief that renders ‘Freedom’ to enjoy within the limits of that Commonness.
One who did not contribute to that Commonness is an outsider and needs to keep
her/his distance to prevent interference.
An official
soldier who accepted the victory celebrations of the then Government
- within that ‘freedom’ of a government
empowered by arms - therefore has no
authority to use the compensations and resources that have been flowing through
to Sri Lanka towards the victims’ group and towards Commonness as Sri Lankans. The
current Government came to power by promising to uphold basic human rights and
commitment to practice Good Governance.
Those who celebrated Clever Governance when a part of their Nation was grieving
– lose their authority to claim Good Governance credits. The more common we are
the greater our credibility to make such a claim. A Good Government will have a
big heart to listen and include without judging, affected parts of a nation as
if the Government has been affected. A clever government on the other hand
would make use of low level ‘wins’ to demote the side that it feels threatened by. It’s worse
when that other group is a minority group. The more one is driven by shown
outcomes – the less one’s contribution to inner commonness. As per Hindu Epic
Ramayanam – Lankan king Ravana was clever but Indian prince Rama was clever and
good.
This goodness is identified with – when
each soldier / combatant – who fought on the basis of belief is able to
identify with as her/his also - the
outcomes Common to the whole – including Tamils in this instance. Otherwise the
soldier / combatant is limited to the benefits that the institution
legitimately owns and no more.
Natural Justice delivers ultimately to
whoever systematically promotes a problem or an opportunity through the
official system available to the person/group – beyond the earned limits (not
the stated limits) of the management of that
system into the area of Truth. I did just that in Australia and enjoy
Australia as a true Australian.
All of us have access to this system so
long as we act within the boundaries of our own Truth/Conscience at all times
or remedy our deviations before proceeding to the next stage. If the victory
against the LTTE was based on belief rather than the authority of the law and
its relativity – then neither side fighter is entitled to express expectations
of compensation beyond the level of the normal soldier / worker / activist. Those
who claim more – confirm that they were driven by benefits – expected and/or
promised. They have to first de-crown themselves from the position of
war-heroes to be entitled to such ordinary civil benefits and that too needs to
be as per the laws common to their institution. Many Tamil combatants now live
within their demoted positions at the same time the official forces are using
their voting power to claim compensation beyond the normal limits of their
institution. This promotes two nations within Sri Lanka. It’s up to social and
family groups of each side – to compensate such soldiers – for their share of
rewarding cleverness above goodness.
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