Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

04 July  2020

Viyathmaga v Democratic Parliament

“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa required parliamentary control plus a faithful team capable of implementing the President’s vision for post-war Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Gampaha District candidate Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said. Addressing a series of pocket meetings in the Gampaha district over the past couple of days, Dr. Godahewa explained that the successful implementation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s manifesto required the SLPP to gain parliamentary control.

 Dr. Godahewa is among about a dozen members of the civil society group Viyathmaga in the parliamentary polls fray. The SLPP accommodated two Viyathmaga members former Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Dr. Seetha Arambepola on the National List.” – Island article ‘General election 2020: Electorate urged to vote irrespective of party, religion to make govt. strong ‘Country cannot afford to have House opposed to Prez’

In 2017, Dr Nalaka Godahewa ‘told’ the non Sri Lankan representative of Tamils –- that the latter was not speaking from the heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6YEe_G2t1w. That representative was ‘told’ that one who ‘took’ money did not have the authority to speak at the UN.

I identify with that measure of ownership. But to my mind, saying  that away from the UN structure  amounted to ‘bullying’ – the very accusation that David – the non Sri Lankan – reorerepresentative – was alleging against the government. The likes of Dr Godahewa may not recognize that non Tamils the right to speak on behalf of Tamils at the UN.  But when Murugathasan Varnakulasingham who was then 26 years old travelled to Switzerland in March 2009, to set himself on fire at the Place des Nations in Geneva and stated the reason – it gave Tamils the permanent mandate to be heard at the UN. Murugathasan wrote:

"We Tamils, displaced and all over the world, loudly raised our problems and asked for help before [the] international community in your own language for three decades.

"But nothing happened... So I decided to sacrifice my life... The flames over my body will be a torch to guide you through the liberation path."

 When I learnt about the above experience – I cried. I cried because I felt his problem as mine. But because I am capable of lifting my emotions to knowledge level – as per my own standards – I would not commit suicide. The thought did cross my mind, during my pain at the University of NSW. But my belief in truth/god  protected me from seriously contemplating it.   Hence I would not dismiss such experiences by others. But Dr. Godahewa did.

To my mind, if the likes of Dr. Godahewa become part of  Sri Lankan politics – ethnic divides would widen exponentially. Unlike self-sacrificial Murugathasan, these so called professionals who are driven by status and controlling authority, abuse intellectual powers towards controlling fellow Sri Lankans who lack intellectual status.

LTTE was also such a group.  Had the government treated them as juniors – they would have disciplined them. But since the government treated them as outsiders – they are stagnating at that level of governance.

If the elimination of LTTE was on behalf of all Sinhalese – overwhelming majority power would have been a natural reality for this government. Dr Godahewa’s ignorance of the system of Belief is demonstrated as follows:

 “Dr. Godahewa said that if not for unprecedented crisis caused by highly contagious coronavirus, the President could have had secured parliamentary control in April.”

The virus was a sample taste of  Executive Power of the President. Divine powers manifested the saying ‘Man Proposes, God disposes’.  When something is exponential in growth – one knows that Belief based powers lead the manifestation. If indeed – Sinhalese elect ‘controllers’ of parliament – then one is entitled to conclude that they are enemies of Democracy. Democracy requires Equal Opposition. Where this is not the case – the law empowers the junior to become Equal through intellectual power. That was how Tamils became Equal power in National Parliament – not once but twice during my generation. If  Sinhalese vote for control over themselves – then mentally minorities would extend their communities to others who value democracy. Thus they would become global powers at their respective levels. This could mean ISIS leadership for Muslims, Marxist leadership for Sinhalese and  Indian leadership for Tamils.