Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

09 April 2017

Educating our Educated Tamil CM ?

[So, Wigneswaran's new thinking which was reflected by his speech last Tuesday in Jaffna has well indicated that it had taken nearly four years, since he became the Chief Minister, to understand that the confrontational approach will only complicate issues further.] Ceylon Today article ‘Wiggy now thinks differently?’

During this period when awareness of Mental Disorders and the importance of ‘talking’ is being promoted by the Sri Lankan Media (for example Daily News article ‘ Mental Health: it’s nothing to be ashamed of’) it is pertinent to identify with the sources of our thoughts and mind structure through which we process them. As per my discovery, the two sources of our thoughts are:

1.      Internal - Our Truth

2.      External – Knowledge from the outside which is not yet Internal.

Internal

Our Truth includes our ‘habits’ which usually are not consciously processed through higher thought structures but operate directly through our biological / physical influences. These are animalistic in nature. There is nothing wrong with this so long as we do not claim otherwise. Winning the opportunity to govern is based on this ‘natural influence’. This facilitates self management in regular life. Hence the value of Cultural Diversity at the primary level of governance.

Truth at the Spiritual level is of absolute value and is realized by the self, independent of any physical influence.  Even one such person in a group would entitle the whole group to self-managing status. Saints are of this category.

External

External knowledge from the outside is also of two categories: Hearsay which is merely physical / what happened and when used without belief, amounts to copying / plagiarism. The more valuable external knowledge is through discriminative thinking using common measures. The wider the usage of the measure – the more common the users’ culture would be. By refusing foreign judges – the Sri Lankan Government is confirming weak investment in this area.

Truth on its own is neither right nor wrong. The measures used in a system make what happens and / or our thoughts right or wrong for that environment and for us as part of that environment. If what happened is genuinely measured differently by two groups – and such outcomes are expressed outside the local boundaries - they automatically become hearsay due to lack of common belief. The screening of ‘The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’ by Ms Lena Hendry, in Malaysia,  to my mind falls within this category unless Ms Lena believed  herself to be more global than Malaysian.  A Sri Lankan Tamil screening it within her/his home area would be taken as expressing her/his belief which may or may not be within the law. Some of Gandhi’s work under British rule fell within this category. By accepting the punishment as per the law of the day, Gandhi restored the respect he was entitled to by practitioners of those laws. Such persons become kingmakers.

As per the above article:

[After his retirement from the Supreme Court, Wigneswaran was leading a very peaceful life focused on spiritual and cultural activities. It was on the insistence of the Tamil elites in Colombo, Jaffna and abroad Wigneswaran came forward to enter politics with the backing of the Tamil National Alliance hierarchy.

The illankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) Leader and Parliamentarian Mavai S. Senathiraja was considered the most eligible politico for TNA's Chief Ministerial candidacy. However, Senathiraja became a 'kingmaker' by supporting Wigneswaran to become the Chief Minister of the Northern Province.]

Indian leader the Hon Kumaraswami Kamraj also was a kingmaker. Such personalities have in reserve, Energies greater  than shown by their official status. Hence their ability to develop kings through Common Belief.

As per the above mentioned article:

[From the time Wigneswaran became the Chief Minister with his unblemished background in the legal fraternity, he genuinely voiced for the people affected by the war without any reservation or hidden agendas.

mixed reaction from political observers

Wigneswaran's firm stance in highlighting the grievances and seeking justice for the people victimized by the war led to a mixed reaction from the political observers, whether the outspoken Chief Minister's comments would damage the hard earned normalcy in the North and the East or would lead to amicable solutions for the problems.]

If the so called normalcy in North and East was hard earned – there would be no room for war-crimes charges. Like Gandhi, Mr. Rajapaksa also would have accepted the ‘punishment’ to confirm respect for International Law and the respect within his ‘home group’ would have also been strengthened.

In the case of Mr. Wigneswaran, his home-group at that time was largely the educated Tamil community in Colombo. To be able to represent Northern Tamils – Mr. Wigneswaran would have had to set aside at least some of his knowledge of Common laws applicable to all Sri Lankans and easily usable by the International Community. I myself had to do this at my workplace in Australian Public Service and at the University of NSW – for which I endured the pain of unlawful arrest and prison sentence. This helped me better appreciate the needs of Northern Sri Lankans whose thought orders would have been drastically shattered by the indiscriminate attack by the Government through the armed forces. The July 1983 riots in Colombo had the effect of pushing the more educated Tamils out of the official system. Some of them went into the ‘belief only system’ whilst majority lost connection with ‘Common Home’ and looked to form groups where those who showed commitment to winners of quick outcomes were allocated leadership positions.

Given that I felt comfort in going to the Tamil suburb of Homebush here in Sydney, when I felt let down by the official merit-based system, I expect Mr. Wigneswaran to have also felt that comfort when he went to Jaffna. I became more receptive to the pain of war-victims and this helped me appreciate the plight of Tamil Tigers when I worked with them through a UNDP project during ceasefire. Now I feel that this call from Sri Lanka came to help me complete my experience as ‘employee’ – to promote myself to the real position of employer / manager. Relatively speaking Mr. Wigneswaran did not have to give up employment opportunities to become Chief Minister of Northern Sri Lanka. But as a politician, he had the duty to give priority to belief over intellectual discrimination that he was used to as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Governance of diverse groups in Northern Sri Lanka  does not get completed until  one develops higher Administrative structures on the basis of personal Truth as well as  knowledge used with respect for the source from which it is received. The latter was expected more of Mr. Wigneswaran than if Mr. Senathirajah had become the Chief Minister. As quoted by the author of the above article Mr. Wigneswaran confirms this as follows:

[We must evaluate our strength and our opponent's strength along with the strength of those who come forward to helping us. At the recent UNHRC session in Geneva we were able to understand the ground realities]

Mr. Wigneswaran has been delivering as per his difficult role but those who sought to make a ‘puppet’ of him would have been disappointed. The author of the above article confirms the ‘attitude’ of denial as follows:

[So, Wigneswaran's new thinking which was reflected by his speech last Tuesday in Jaffna has well indicated that it had taken nearly four years, since he became the Chief Minister, to understand that the confrontational approach will only complicate issues further.]

We say in Tamil that one / reporter who fell on the ground says that his moustache was not dirtied by sand! Some sink to low levels of politics and never rise above majority pull. We Jaffna Tamils have confirmed our higher mind-structure in self-governance through Mr. Wigneswaran also. One needs kingmakers to do this especially as minority power. Every person who sacrifices earned benefits and opportunities towards Common good – contributes to king-making. Want one? Come to Jaffna!