Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

19 March 2019

Daily Mirror - Are you aware that Sri Lanka is not land belonging to Buddhists?

Knowledge becomes wisdom when we experience that knowledge. Until experienced, knowledge is ‘external’ to us. That which is external to us does not have the power to work itself through us. Hence we need common laws and processes through which we think in common and act in common. The Christchurch massacre happening during this holy period for Christians would not seem  coincidence to the deeper reader with experience/wisdom in Equal Opportunity values and laws.

Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) for example as published the following as part of the editorial - Terrorism, hate speech and religious bigotry - on the Christchurch massacre:

[The perpetrator, was apparently ‘radicalised’ over a period of time via social media and the web, using what is referred to as ‘dark sites’. Before embarking on his murderous rampage, Tarrant uploaded a hate-filled  manifesto which he claimed was the cause celibre behind his murderous rampage and the means to save western civilisation from Islamists and foreign invaders bent on destroying western civilisation and Christianity. The man was not probably aware that the US, Australia and New Zealand are not lands belonging to the European community.]

My question to the editor is – ‘Are you aware that Sri Lanka is not land belonging to Buddhists only?’

The word ‘only’ is missing in the editor’s observation. Australia, as it exists today belongs to those of European origin also.

The editor states ‘In Sri Lanka, we too underwent a similar brainwashing when our politicians from both sides of the racial-divide spouted race hatred. More recently, we saw the rise of religious bigotry against our brothers in the Muslim community. Fortunately the attempts to destabilise the country were contained.’

I am not aware that Muslim politicians in Sri Lanka contributed to those riots between Muslims and Buddhists. To my mind, the source was the interpretation of ‘Buddhism Foremost’ policy in the Sri Lankan constitution – which makes Buddhism senior to any other religion in Sri Lanka and therefore Buddhists are senior to a person of any other religion.  This provision is fundamentally flawed in terms of democracy and when invoked against a more democratic person, and the other person does not retaliate,  it would attack the investment in democracy by Buddhists of Sri Lanka. That I believe, was how Tamils who are largely Hindus, Christians and Muslims – became leading Opposition in National Parliament despite being a minority of about 12%. This is the parallel of Mr Fraser Anning becoming Senator with only 19 votes – which is .0076% of the total votes of 250,126.

White Australians attached to White seniority, are the parallels of  not only Buddhist supremacists  in Sri Lanka but also of Tamil supremacists in Tamil only areas where they reigned supreme before democracy replaced seniority with Equality, where at least one party was conscious of diversity.

On 11 August 1998, when I resigned from the substantive position I held at the University of NSW  that was also to protest against such supremacists. The feeling was surfaced by Ms Pauline Hanson who spoke on TV and represents such supremacists  and therefore continuously attacks the investment in democracy by other Australians. I was guided by my inner Truth.

When one is found to be wrong there is room for hope that they would correct themselves. But with extremists – the ceiling is already in place in terms of self-assessment. Hence when they act against someone who has ‘included’ them as part of her/himself, it is a sin that cannot be corrected through the system that allocates rights and wrongs in the current environment. I believe that it was Lord Muruga power in me that led to my non-violent expressions through which I became the Equal Opposition of the UNSW management. This then means that I still belonged. The rest happened naturally through each person’s Truth.

But no one except my immediate family and a couple of  UNSW staff,  directly supported me in that democratic pathway.  If Brenton Tarrant was wrong to a mind, then I ought to have been ‘right’ to that same mind. The rest is mere hearsay. Knowledge needs to recognize both at the same time and/or on Equal footing.