Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

19 January 2019

You Divide & We Conquer

The Sinhalese Government has insufficient resources to honor the Constitutional Rights of Minorities

Yesterday, a young reader and writer wrote to me:

[I don't understand why you are sending me your incorrect and hateful posts]

I responded as follows:

As for being ‘hateful’ I do not hate anyone. Hence I conclude that you find them hateful. I therefore conclude that your conclusions about Mr Sumanthiran are also in confirmation of your hatred of him.

I believe that when we seek through our own truth we find others’ truth. This morning I wrote about how Tamil National Alliance has become the Joint Government in National Parliament. Later I identified with the truth that Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa was revealing about himself.

The Daily Mirror reports under the heading ‘Opp. Leader’s office previously confined to one area: MR’ :

[The Opposition Leader’s office was previously used to represent a particular group of people and a region, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said today.

He expressed these views after assuming duties as the Opposition Leader at the Opposition Leader’s office at No 30, Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 07.

“We were prevented from having the official opposition in parliament on numerous occasions. However, I am of the opinion that it was a great victory for us to gain the official opposition in parliament after a period of hardships,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.

He said they were ready to work for the people who are in every part of the country irrespective of their race and ethnicity. ]

To the mind that saw ‘Sinhalese only’ the leading opposition led by Tamil National Alliance was ‘Tamil Only’. That is the mind-structure of one who held the position of Executive President position twice.  

In 1976, Tamil Politicians declared Political equality through Vaddukoddai Resolution. In severity the hardships that Mr Rajapaksa refers to are next to nothing, compared to the hardships endured by Tamil Politicians and the People who empowered the Vaddukoddai Resolution 1976. The 1956 and 1958 riots due to Tamil resistance against ‘Sinhala Only’ legislation confirm the serious difficulty that Tamils experienced if they dared to be equal in government Administration. The 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution resulted in more serious attacks  in 1977. The LTTE was not involved in any of these. They became the Joint protectors of Tamil areas thereafter.

The fact that Mr Rajapaksa could not stand the thought of Tamils being Opposition leaders in National Parliament – confirms Separatism roots in him and his supporters.

The Constitution to which Mr Rajapaksa has committed himself requires him to abide by the following promise to the People:

[WE, THE FREELY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE OF SRI LANKA, in pursuance of such Mandate, humbly acknowledging our obligations to our People and gratefully remembering their heroic and unremitting struggle to regain and preserve their rights and privileges so that the Dignity and Freedom of the Individual may be assured, Just, Social, Economic and Cultural Order attained, the Unity of the Country restored, and Concord established with other Nations, do hereby adopt and enact this CONSTITUTION as the SUPREME LAW of the DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA]

In the eyes of Truth – therefore every Sri Lankan who ‘gratefully remembers  the heroic and unremitting struggle by those before her/him, to regain and preserve their rights and privileges so that the Dignity and Freedom of the Individual may be assured, Just, Social, Economic and Cultural Order attained, the Unity of the Country restored, and Concord established with other Nations’ is a People’s representative.  

Recently, the Tamil Governor of Northern Sri Lanka – Dr Raghavan is reported to have stated   “I have a dream like Martin Luther King” Post-war transitional justice, not another victor’s story!”

The dream I have for Northern Sri Lanka is for Northerners to feel common and think equal  and not ‘be told’ otherwise.

 Rev Martin Luther King Jr expresses this beautifully as follows in his ‘I have a dream’  speech  during the  ‘March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on 28 August 1963:

[….In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects  of our Republic wrote the magnificent  words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing  a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.  This note was a promise that all men - yes black  men as we11 as white men-would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit  of happiness. It is obvious today that America  has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned.  Instead of honoring  this sacred  obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ''insufficient funds.'']

The legitimate claim to position of Leadership duly developed by Tamils has bounced due to insufficient commitment to the Constitution by the Government elected by Sinhalese majority.

But Truth will prevail and so long as we continue to value truth more than benefits or even the law, we will identify with the true outcomes. Wonder what Dr Raghavan is doing to address this damage to post-war transitional justice by the self-declared victors of a ‘free’ war.

To me, the TNA is now the Natural  Government of Tamils and Mr Sampanthan is the parallel of Rev Martin Luther King’s heir – the real manifestation of that ‘Dream’ - Barack Hussein Obama. Mr Rajavarothiam Sampanthan is the heir of our consolidated political leadership who had the real dream of Independent Tamil Nation. This was endorsed by Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa who lacked funds to honour the ‘unity claim’ as required by the Constitution of Sri Lanka.