Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

07 April 2017

Common Caste Mind Order

Reconciliation is  presented as a key to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. But there are common aspects of the rebellion by youth on both sides to this war which pose the need for deeper research into the workings of the minds of Sri Lankans. Identifying with that Commonness would naturally eliminate ethnicity based excesses. Ignoring that commonness would internally transfer the problem from the more supervised side to the less supervised side. Presenting the wrong answers as the right ones leads to mental disorder as per the system of Karma.

Tamils are often blamed for suppressing their own lower castes. Hence caste is taken as an important classification of the structural order of our mind. Practice of Laws also determine our structural mind orders. Our mind orders often surface when we think we are in free environments – without supervision.

Given that caste was part of the Customary Law of Thesawalamai applicable to Northern Sri Lankans, it cannot be set aside as ‘evil’. When taken strictly on the basis of each person’s responsibility to society, caste often helps us to ‘position’ ourselves in public. It’s when the classification is used for ‘private’ / ‘selfish’ purposes that it becomes wrong. When wrongs are corrected within the environment in which they were produced – the damage is repaired. When they are neglected they become sins.

I was at the home of an LSSP follower. LSSP is presented as follows by Wikipedia:

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (literally Lanka Equal Society Party…. ) is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka.  At my friend’s place, my attention was drawn to the book ‘Revolt in the Temple’ by Victor Ivan who is presented  by Wikipedia as follows:

[Victor is an investigative journalist, political critic, a theorist, social activist and also an author of several books. He was the 7th accused of the main court case on the Youth Insurrection 1971. ]

By now I have learnt to identify with ‘natural connections’ as to why I am attracted to read something that I would usually not be interested in. In this instance, the mind of my friend who owned that home also was an influencing factor. When we are fully focused, losing consciousness of any returns from an environment – we connect to the mind of that environment, beyond the matter. To the extent my investment in my friend was genuine – that mind that so invested would merge with the mind at that place to form the True Common Mind of that place.

When I read the first chapters of  ‘Revolt in the Temple’, I learnt about the path of Karava caste which is presented by Wikipedia as follows:

[The "Karava" caste considered second in Sri Lanka was the specialist mariners/navigators also some of them were brought to Sri Lanka as Dravidian warriors throughout history, the "Salagama" caste has its origin in Kerala as "Saligrama Brahmins" who are even today considered as among the highest castes in Kerala & the "Wahumpura" descending from the Deva (mountain people) of the Mahavamsa. Even though ancient literature such as "Pujavaliya" suggests that the Buddhas might be born in Govi Kula, ancient Indians believed that Buddhas are born only in the kshatrya(Raja kula).]

The interesting Commonness between the leaders of JVP in Southern Sri Lanka and the LTTE in Northern Sri Lanka is noted by me through the following:

About JVP Leader:

[Wijeweera was born on 14 July 1943 (Bastille Day) to Patabendi Don Andris Wijeweera and Nasi Nona Wickramakalutota who lived in Kottegoda, a coastal fishing village situated in southern Sri Lanka and belonged to the Karava caste hierarchy.

In September 1960 he went to the Soviet Union and entered Lumumba University to study medicine. He completed the Russian language examination within seven and a half months, obtaining a distinction, and spent his holidays travelling through the USSR. He also worked during this time as an agricultural worker in the Moldavian Republic. He worked through his medical studies well up to third year and also obtained a distinction in political economics in 1963. In late 1963 he became ill and received medical treatment from a hospital in Moscow, but finally requested a full academic term of medical leave and returned to Ceylon. At that time the Communist Party of Ceylon was divided into two groups which were pro-Chinese and pro-Soviet. He did not get visa to return to the USSR as he joined the pro-Chinese group ] Wikipedia

About LTTE Leader:

[In the early 1970s, United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced the Policy of standardization to rectify the low numbers of Sinhalese being accepted into university in Sri Lanka. A student named Satiyaseelan formed Tamil Manavar Peravai (Tamil Students League) to counter this biased move. This group comprised Tamil youth who advocated the rights of students to have fair enrollment. Inspired by the failed 1971 insurrection of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, it was the first Tamil insurgent group of its kind. It consisted of around 40 Tamil youth, including Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran (later, the leader of the Sivakumaran group), K. Pathmanaba (one of the founder members of EROS) and Velupillai Prabhakaran, a 19-year-old youth from single caste oriented Valvettithurai (VVT).] Wikipedia

Most Tamils of Sri Lanka know that VVT is Karayar / Karava / Fisher folk environment.

I presented the following through my article of 24 March 2017, under the title ‘Christianity Development or  Post-War Development?’:

 [Thiruketheeswaram's initial installment is credited to the indigenous people of the Manthai port, the Karaiyar Naga tribe.  The Karaiyar claimed to be related to several classical period public figures hailing from the international port town, including the creator of the oldest extant Tamil literature by an Eelam Tamilian, the Sangam poet Eelattu Poothanthevanar …………Under the rule of Cankili II, the king requested Karaiyars and Badagars in regaining back his kingdom. The Colonial Portuguese ordered Cankili II to surrender the Badagars and The king of Karaiyar (Carea) to be surrendered. Cankili II declared that he would not let the Badagars nor the King of Karaiyars to be surrendered, as they had come to his request. The Karaiyar troops aligned with the Thanjavur Nayak troops, and fought against the Portuguese in the conquest of the Jaffna kingdom. ]

Neither leader showed inclination towards higher education and therefore the mind-structure of academics – nor respect for the educated individuals within the community for whose ‘freedom’ they claimed to fight for. Both demonstrated the inclination to be warriors. LTTE’s is world known and they have been listed as ‘Terrorists’. JVP’s is presented as follows:

[It was April 9, Good Friday, 1971. Dr. Rex de Costa, a retired and decorated lieutenant colonel and a reputed medical practitioner, was at his quarters with his family in Deniyaya, down south. The day had just begun. The family probably hadn’t even sat down for breakfast. Around 9:00 a.m., shouts were heard from outside the door. A group of armed men ‒ all JVP insurgents ‒ had gathered, demanding that Dr. de Costa step out of the house. Not wanting to put his family in harm’s way, the ageing soldier opened the door. He had barely taken a few paces outside, with his wife cautiously peering from behind, when he was met with a hail of bullets. Dr. de Costa died on the spot.

Exactly a week later, in Kataragama, an Army unit had just rounded up a group of young girls believed to be connected to the insurgents. Among the girls was a local beauty queen named Premawathi Manamperi who had been named the Avurudu Kumari at the previous year’s Sinhala New Year celebrations. The lieutenant in charge of the unit ordered his men to get Manamperi to rat out her comrades in the JVP, by any means necessary. They tortured her through the night, but Manamperi just wouldn’t break. The infuriated lieutenant made her strip naked and paraded her across the town in the nude, beating and kicking her along the way with the help of another officer.] ‘The April Struggle’  at roar.lk

To my mind, when the Sri Lankan Government introduced ‘Sinhala Only’ law and  Tamils who had invested in Higher Education, felt the pain – those who elected the Government went down to the mind structure that suited warriors. The higher the mind, the greater the diversity that it includes. The Policy therefore promoted the insurgence in addition to paving the way for more Sinhalese voters to enter the University. The parallel of that is the University of Jaffna which is again facing separation of its Vavuniya campus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BODFbfMbha8). Had the University of Jaffna raised its mind to the higher level – it would have not connection with  Vavuniya mind, which includes Sinhalese also.

The common reason is lack of investment in structure because we are distracted and driven more by ‘outcomes’. The former brings us a wife whereas the latter a mistress – even if one were officially and culturally married to the person. Likewise Government and De facto Government / Rebel. The latter is right only for outcomes.

The deeper we sacrifice the stronger our investment in common structure. We have a lady-relative who keeps claiming that she was entitled to take higher position than any of her siblings because she brought up her siblings after her mother passed away. That is like the rebels saying that they took the position of ‘opposition’ when the opposition in parliament gave up on itself / committed suicide. This lady invokes such power when she ‘sees’ in her little mind – the dollars and that the other side has and the obedience she thinks she would get from that sibling. When giving evidence in Court towards getting such money – the lady made this claim and the judge of the primary court included this as relevant. But one who has invested in the Common Structure would know that such a claim needs to be applicable to all beneficiaries – and each one as per their capability which cannot be translated in money terms by the claimant. Once the claimant confirms the influence of money – the claimant makes her/himself an outsider. To take higher position, one has to sacrifice earned benefits for the common good – as a mother does. One who claims only from one sibling / part of a community – is taking wife position and not higher mother position.

The lower the social value in terms of outcome, the lower the status of the producer – caste or no caste.  Leftists who indiscriminately eliminated the caste system based on such priorities – to promote communism distracted citizens from the path of Common education . Towards this they found the ‘gaps’ between  the Government and the Citizen – and as we say in Tamil ‘cycled between the gaps’. To that extend we need a Common solution and not reconciliation.