Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam – 01 April 2015
Sculpture depicting the churning of the ocean
at
Suvarnabhumi (Golden
Land) airport in Bangkok, Thailand
|
Common Opposition & Common Government
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has raised the issue
of legitimacy of One Government in Sri Lanka. As per the report by the Nation
at http://www.nation.lk/edition/politics/item/39588-a-dangerous-deviation.html Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka stated:
‘ A
National Government is an all-parties government or at least a government which
brings together the two major rival parties’
Agree that that is the way of democracy. Politics is one sided and hence
we need the ‘other’ side to reflect the true state of affairs – as in a Balance
Sheet. But was there such a Balance under the Rajapaksa Government? If there
was – could the Government have eliminated the Tamil Tigers? – To my mind the
answer is NO. The Tamil Tigers themselves happened due to there being no ‘other
side’ in government when Sinhala was made the only official language.
Parliamentary system of management was abused to promote One side which was
unhealthy for the whole country. Whether one believes in it or not – one who is
in Opposition must bring out the ‘other
side’ of a government proposal. A sovereign government would. That process of
bringing out the other side of the picture – is the basis of Administration.
One may still vote effectively as per one’s belief. But when discussing the
proposal an opposition has the duty to
take the other side.
To the extent those to whom Tamil was first language were contributing to
healthy governance were hurt by the above one language policy – there was
automatic karma created against those who failed to sincerely go through the
Parliamentary Process. This ‘other side’ of the real members in parliament – eventually
became the Tamil Tigers. When there is an Equal and Opposite side at that point
in time – and we include that in our decision making – the other side is a
naturally expected outcome – as night follows day. We just use our brains to
project what would happen when it is the ‘other side’s’ turn to show itself.
A good example through which I was recently reminded about this
certainty of karma is in the block of our residential units. This development
was owned by Prima Singapore which has a branch in Sri Lanka also. I worked in
this branch. During the auctions in Sydney I went up to the elderly Chairman of
Prima who was present and sought his blessings – even though he did not seem to
remember me. (Back then this chairman said to me that they preferred Tamils to
Sinhalese because Tamils worked harder) When we were able to meet the price – I
felt that the blessings did happen. I felt that the gap in financial affordability
was filled by common ownership in Prima. This I believe is how the system of
Natural Justice works. It’s a form of heritage value.
With that feeling of ownership I supported a couple of elderly residents
who were upset that holiday makers were being accommodated on residential
floors. Some owners who remained silent back then - now face a problem in that
there is a proposal for a roof garden which would affect their privacy. As our
son pointed out – they are now getting their karma back. Likewise Sinhalese who
remained silent when they ought to have spoken – got their own back through the
Rajapaksa government’s monopoly. Dr.
Dayan Jayatillaka who was very much part of the Rajapaksa regime contributed to
this – no-party system which is another form of the Rajapaksa government.
In his interview, Dr. Jayatilleka states:
‘It
cannot really be called a National Government because there is no agreed-upon
common program for National Salvation or any need for such.’
That brings to mind the Clemency issue in Indonesia – as to whether the
Decision by the President is after completion
of the legal process or whether it was part of the legal process. Is
this One formation which is the parallel of Clemency – needed to diffuse negative
karma? If yes its make-up needs to be through
deepest belief expressed through the highest position in the country. Where that
position holder her/himself is not one of deep belief – s/he has the duty to be
the medium of manifestation of those with deeper belief. Failure to recognize this opportunity
eventually becomes disastrous to the person responsible and to the group that
considers her/him their leader. It often becomes a mortal sin for the
nation. In Hindu culture which includes
the horoscope system – such cardinal sins of the past are shown through
planetary positions. These cannot be corrected the way we correct wrongs –
including through external punishments. In some ways the person is untouchable
by the human system. Repentance is one way to become independent of such sins. The
other is total surrender to the Lord. Such Salvation cannot be agreed upon. It can
however be resorted to in the case of a position and the group that the
position is part of – by some with strong opposite karma – in this instance positive
karma of inclusive governance.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka states about the hundred day program of the
government:
‘The
58 lakhs who voted for the SLFP candidate didn’t vote for the 100 day program,
so why on earth should the SLFP help in its implementation? On balance, I think
that program was a bad one because its centerpiece was and is the abolition or
drastic cut backs in the executive powers of the presidency. As for elections,
they will have to be held before the Constitutional deadline of April 2016 or there will be a crisis of legitimacy of
governance and the accumulating contradictions will make governance impossible.’
The way we receive what happens is as per the structure in our minds.
These structures to qualify the mind as being that of a leader, could be on the
basis of Laws and Theories common to many and/or as per one’s Truth/Belief. If one receives through policy – the above
response by Dr. Jayatilleka would seem valid. In other words, in a system of
Governance with Equal Opposition – the same party cannot be validly functional
on both sides at the same time. Where there is only one side – Time is the basis
of separation and not Personal Votes – as in ‘Time will tell’. One who
suppresses this other side automatically invokes the one sided ‘Time will tell’
system. One who stills time – as depicted by Kaalan under the right foot of Dancing
Shiva (Election Promises and Clemency at http://austms.blogspot.com.au/) manifests both sides through
current work. Given that the Sri Lankan Government under Mr. Rajapaksa was
running on Time basis – there was no room for democratic balance. The 100 day
program is to weaken the damage from that One Party Government under the
Presidential system. This is good for the Nation – for it prevents wrongs
becoming mortal sins.
Dr. Jayatilleka was not against Mr. Sirisena declaring himself as the Common Opposition Candidate. If
this was genuine on the part of Mr. Sirisena – then the Common Government Position
was born then itself. As per my recollection – Dr Jayatilleka stated back then -
‘Mr. Sirisena is a brave and decent man; possibly our
last hope. He deserves better than to be overshadowed or drowned out by his
current companions and patrons who represent and recall the failures of a past
from which Mahinda Rajapaksa, to his lasting credit, rescued the country’
One needs to facilitate time for the new leadership to work out its own
pathway – first to redeem as much of the nation’s investment in good governance
as possible and then to structure an appropriate system that is custom made for
Sri Lanka – without losing the common values shared with other good
governments. The way of the asuras (those driven by brawn power) is to use the
system, grab the benefits and then exclude themselves through claims of
cultural nationalism.
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