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Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam – 07 April 2015
Devolution or Equal Opposition?
Members of both major ethnicities of Sri Lanka have forwarded discussions of the
article ‘The Last Nail in the Coffin’
by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka. Dr. Dayan
Jayatilleka himself has included me in his circulation list. I do believe that
whether we agree with Dr. Jayatilleka or not – there is value in his articles
that would help structure the Political and Administrative systems needed by
Sri Lanka. Dr. Jayatilleka – consciously or otherwise recognizes the value of
Tamils in Sri Lankan politics far more than many other Sinhalese leaders. This
article in Opposition of Tamils getting that Leadership position in Sri Lanka
is confirmation of the value Dr. Jayatilleka places in the Opposition by
Tamils.
To my mind, the above article is mainly about whether Tamils satisfy
the criteria to hold the position Equal to the Government in Parliament. To my
knowledge – there is no specific Constitutional requirements that need to be
met – to qualify for this position. But as usual and quite rightly, Dr. Dayan
is placing himself in the position responsible to fill this vacancy that has
happened due to members of both major Sinhalese Parties becoming part of the Government.
If there
is no provision in the Constitution for the Common Authority to form Opposition
to Government and there is no Parliamentary policy regarding the essential
selection criteria for this position – every member who takes the ‘other’ side of those who
make up Government becomes the Opposition at that point for that matter. One
could therefore be on the side of Government today and on the side of Common
Opposition tomorrow.
It would be easier for the common citizen
to therefore rely on her/his own Truth and become the Government or the
Opposition for a particular issue at that time. Every person who mentally
participates irrespective of which side we participate through - is the true
government of Sri Lanka. Those who show lesser status for equal contribution
have the Natural Powers to invoke Divine support for the side taken by them. These
are commonly recognized as heritage and tradition.
Tamils who have actively been the ‘other
side’ of Sri Lankan Government have earned this position much more than
Sinhalese who are complacent and idle. This complacency leads to indifference to Governance when the
thought-holders are conscious of being majority power. History without this
latent power of ownership when actively used, has the effects of living with
corpses. Good Friday would have been mere history without Easter Sunday –
confirming that the soul is eternal and one who lives through the soul has the power to Resurrect.
As per God’s creation – we are all born
Sovereign and therefore Equal. But recognizing this Equality is difficult at
the physical level where one is physically stronger than the other – as a
parent is to the child. Hence wise humans developed the system of the junior paying
respects to the senior under the hierarchical system. Once this respect is paid/given
recognition – the two become common and maintain their Sovereignty as a pair. This
is time based balancing. One who pays respect sincerely – invests in the higher
position and hence is grooming her/himself to fill that position with dignity
of her/his independence/sovereignty. One who contributes more to the
relationship than is required as per the existing structure – naturally elevates
the power to the higher level towards natural merger with wider
community/society.
When the junior becomes senior and the first
senior is not able to provide ‘service’ the relationship is completed at the
existing structural level. The two
become Equal members of the community/society they are part of.
Where the senior is able to provide
advisory services and the second in line continues to have respect for the senior – the
structure of the relationship is elevated to the higher level – to include the needs
of more members of the community/society.
This
expansion from family to community / society is necessary to lose consciousness
of the previous hierarchy. Under a
vertical system this is achieved by the 1st senior becoming less and
less active at the physical level and therefore accumulates latent powers that
others could draw from. Such drawers
include those beyond the family structure.
Those who are attached to their past
victories / senior status - often have difficulty losing consciousness of the
past/history. Hence they do not recognize the junior as an Equal. Those who
respect common positions – for example – the position of parent – would have little difficulty in
treating their children as Equals once the latter become parents. Those who
have difficulty need to distance themselves if there is to be harmony. One way to confirm this is by devolution of power
combined with distribution of wealth. The dowry system practiced by
Tamils under Thesawalamai is in recognition of this devolution through which
parents of the bride confirm that they are equal in status to the married daughter.
Every child who at the time of marriage receives a share of commonwealth –
becomes equal to the parent. This requires the child to be independent of the
parent after marriage. To my mind devolution of power is based on this value of
independence and therefore Equal status.
Where in real terms respect for the senior
is lacking due to weakness on either side - the system lowers itself and visible
outcomes are produced at lower levels. Hence election by majority vote. It is like all types of work being of equal
importance and hence the person who spends most time doing her / his allocated
work – becoming the leader/senior.
Unless this election is followed by higher
thinking through Common Policies – we would live close to animal level – as in survival
of the fittest. Then we would all be part of irrelevant history without much
heritage or traditional values added to our homelands / groups.
Truth when manifested has Equal and
Opposite forms. Hence man and woman are needed to give new form to themselves
in common. Hence equal rights to two opposing
parties in a Court of Law. This equal right – comes with the requirement to
produce the ‘other side’. Without that ability – a minority is a junior of the other.
Equal Opposition helps maintain harmony where
both sides feel free to present their true experiences to complete the big
picture. When one sees, one is able to work out what the other would do. One
does not need for time to tell. Hence in a sovereign group one side becomes the
medium for half the population and the other side becomes the medium for the
other half. But the two have to be Equal for them to produce the big picture
common to both sides. When one gets lesser vote than the other – this Equal
status gap is filled by Law. If this is not done in law – one needs to rely on
one’s own Truth which would without fail produce two Equal sides whenever it is
manifested. Without Opposition – those who disagree become enemies and hence develop
as rebellion followed by terrorism.
The 1978 Sri Lankan Constitution happened
after Tamils won the position of Equal Opposition in the 1977 Parliamentary
Elections - on the basis of Self
Declaration of Political Independence through the Vaddukoddai Resolution. To
the extent this was truly belief based as if an Affidavit – one side of the
FACT was formed. The other side happened when the other majority party of
Sinhalese did not win enough seats. To my mind this was because they USED
Democracy without respecting the need for Equal Opposition.
The 1978 Constitution does not seem to have
provided for this Equal Opposition through National leadership position. That
is like a single parent family. In a way – it manifested the Truth of the
architect – Mr. J.R.Jayawardene who came to power through the democratic
process but destroyed that system for other leaders – especially for the Tamil
Opposition leaders. In doing so – Mr. Jayawardene wrote in history books that
he was ignorant of the fundamentals of Governance through the system of Democracy. The
recent events have confirmed that this missing ‘Other side’ continues to be
missing. When there is no occupier of
the Natural position – one who is physically close to it occupies that
position. Likewise, when there is no position in the human system for this ‘other
side’ – Nature / Truth establishes that
position. Every time a Tamil without portfolio
or lesser portfolio relative to a Sinhalese makes contribution to National
Governance – that Equal Opposition Position is developed. Only that person and
those to whom that person is part of their community – would be able to produce
the true ‘other side’ of the Government’s outcomes. Producing such other side
and no more – is essential for Democracy. It prevents development of
enemies/terrorists.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka states in his article
at http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=122694
:
[Mr. Sampanthan
is a cultured gentleman, a superb speaker and fine parliamentarian in the old
tradition. But he would be most unsuitable to be made Leader of the Opposition.
It is neither because he is an ethnic Tamil nor because he is the leader of the
TNA that Mr. Sampanthan must not be appointed the Leader of the Opposition of
the Sri Lankan parliament. It is because of the political project he subscribes
to and the political views he holds. …………. Mr. Sampanthan as Opposition Leader
would be opposed to the very political community, the very political unit,
which he would be sworn to uphold and operate squarely within.]
One who swears as per her/his belief must
be accepted as being genuine until there is evidence to prove others. As a
Tamil – I believe that Mr. Sampanthan is the best Opposition leader available
to Sri Lanka as it is today – so the real Opposition has Equal Access to the
common pathway to National Leadership, despite our minority status. As a Sri
Lankan I believe that this would eliminate the right to claim devolution.
Dr. Jayatilleka states: ‘To put it differently, one cannot have as
the Leader of the Opposition someone who is not loyal to the Sri Lankan State.
One cannot have as Leader of the Opposition, someone who refuses to uphold the
very character – unitary, not merely united—of the Sri Lankan state.’
One gets some indication of how this lack
of loyalty is calculated by Dr. Jayatilleka through the following:
1. ‘…he probably won’t oppose the
present Government at all, since he helped bring it into office;
2.
his party colleague Mr. Sumanthiran is a co-drafter of the 19th
amendment which castrates the executive Presidency, turning that office into a
constitutional eunuch; and his party the TNA has gone on to defend the 19th amendment
in the Supreme Court.’
1.When Mr. Sampathan as head of TNA showed
support this group that is in government now was the Opposition. Hence one
could validly conclude that by showing support for this group – Mr. Sampanthan
was investing in Opposition Position and
did not go with the person. It’s like me as a child investing through respect -
in the position of parent and not Mrs. Sironmani Navaratnam – the individual.
2.The Office of President was born a Constitutional eunuch due to the
short-sightedness of its creator - Mr.
JR Jayawardene. The position’s ability to procreate was further weakened by Mr.
Rajapaksa who became the medium for the common Sinhalese to label the Common
Tamil a Terrorist at worst and an ‘outsider’ at best. The proof is in the pudding
– the Common Government that is not capable of producing an Equal Opposition – Constitutionally
or Naturally.
Dr. Jayatilleka confirms that he needs
Tamils to point the finger at when Sri Lanka gets the failure grades from wider
world. At least for that reason he needs Tamils to be part of One Sri Lanka.
Today’s experience is tomorrow’s position
of responsibility. As per common knowledge
- Tamils suffered more in the war than Sinhalese. Everyone who
participates in this cost without shifting blame to escape the pain - is naturally laying the foundations of those
higher positions of responsibility and rights. If they are blocked in Sri Lanka
– other pathways would open for the global minded investor. The tradition minded investor would go into
meditation to live in and love Nature –
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