Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam – 21 July 2015
Ignorance or Betrayal?
I kept thinking about the diplomatic ‘correction’ made by a law expert when I
stated that the Sri Lankan President had the power to ‘elect’ the Prime
Minister. The Technical term used in the
Constitution is ‘appointment’. I guess I
am in ‘Governing-mode’ due to completion of my book ‘Beyond Consciousness’.
Governance by Truth is beyond Administration. The young law expert is strongly driven
by Administrative technicality. When I was thinking about this, I received the ‘inioru’
article (Tamil) – raising the question as to whether ‘Vigneswaran & Gajendrakumar were ignorant or were traitors?’
To my mind, in many ways the core issue was
also about the mind order in which the information is received. Mr. Vigneswaran
was Supreme Court Judge before he joined politics and became the Chief Minister
of Northern Province. In some ways – structurally this is a demotion. Mr.
Gajendrakumar is the grandson of Mr. GG
Ponnambalam who as a lawyer was outstanding and the best known to my generation
in my environment. His proposal of 50:50 power sharing in Parliament was/is also received differently by different people –
each as per their mind-order. One Canadian Tamil wrote as follows in response
to my statement ‘This is also the 50:50 policy recommended by Mr.
G.G.Ponnambalam – a highly intelligent
politician of our times’:
[The
above statement is an attempt to revise history. The fifty fifty demand
undermines
democratic
representation. It imposes an artificial minority status to a majority
community.
When the Soulbury commission dismissed this demand out of hand, GGP went home
without offering an alternative plan. After hammering the UNP in his election
campaign in 1947 and after defeating A. Mahadeva convincingly he voted for the
disfranchisement of the hill country Thamils resulting in our strength is
parliament reduced by half. Worse, he sought and obtained a ministerial
portfolio before the ink on the Citizenship Act No.28 of 1948 got dried.
That
was a supreme betrayal of the interests of Thamils which GGP vowed to defend.
He
did
not offer any apology for his selfish and short-sighted politics. He attacked
the
federal
demand by the ITAK and till the end insisted on a unitary constitution.
And
now you have the gall to call him "a highly intelligent politician of our
times."
This
is a supreme insult. Of all our past
leaders, GGP was a real traitor to the
Thamil
people.
It
all so reveals your lopsided understanding of Thamil political history.
Our
present woes and predicament are entirely his creations.]
Whether
it be Velupillai Prabhakaran or GG
Ponnambalam or SJV Chelvanayakam – if a single individual could be held responsible
for what happened to our Tamil Community – then the Community is Hierarchical
in its structure – as per the mind of the person so concluding. There is
nothing wrong with that – provided the same mind does not claim to be
democratic. A leader of the American Tamil Diaspora responded as follows:
[I
agree with Mr. Canadian Tamil (my replacement) on history.
GGP
however finally made amends when he joint with SJV and Thondaman and
founded
the TULF and signed the Vaddukottai declaration. I am uncertain whether Thondaman
signed it or not. Ashraff crept in as an observer since he was educated in
the Jaffna University.Kumar and Gajan are disappointments and Gajan might win a
seat in the next elections thanks to the PR system and the internal issues of
the TNA. Too bad Ananthy is not contesting although she had made the right
decision finally.
She
is immensely popular but immature in politics and is rather emotional.
She
is also an embarassing loose cannon. That vote might go to Gajan and he could
get elected together with Douglas. Even Vijayakala could get elected reducing
TNA to 4 seats out of 7 in the JD. Anyway, Gajan is better than Douglas and
even Vijayakala. That could be a historic low for the TNA, but they have to
blame themselves due to the disunity at the TNA leadership level and the
poor performance of the NPC and it's members.
More
worrisome is that Rajapakse could get over 100 seats in Parliament and the
president might be forced to invite the UPFA/Rajapakses to form the new
government. The Muslims could jump any side.]
These responses are also centered around
the question of whether we are One Nation, Two Nations or Many Nations?
It depends on the mind-order of the interpreter.
One who is able to accept all genuine interpretations with equal respect as
her/his own – is truly democratic. One who tries to enforce her/his
interpretation as the only valid one – is autocratic and would fail in a truly
democratic environment. Ultimately it is about our own fulfillment through our
investments in the political and administrative systems of our respective
environments – be they local or global.
Physical-living, by itself - in Australia,
America or Canada does not make us global at the mind level – any more than
Westerners giving ‘aid’ to developing countries. It’s true sharing of the
experience that develops the global mind.
When we come together physically – due to
conscious agreement or separate largely due to disagreements – we are driven by
politics. Politics is limited to local powers – local in terms of place and
time. Most young Tamils living in rural Sri Lanka or in Western countries - would
not relate to the above responses from fellow members of the Tamil Diaspora.
They are also the ‘many nations’ interpretation discussed in the ‘inioru’ article.
Mr. GG Ponnambalam recognized One Nation with Equal Political status for
minorities. It is Democratic Administration which many Governments are turning
to in Public Service – through ‘Business Unit’ and ‘Project’ based structures replacing
Historic Basis & Programs. There are times when one has to choose between
Policy and Business. Where the policy has been idle and carries the risk of
being abused by politicians – it is better to move towards ‘Business basis’ –
as Mr. GG Ponnambalam did when he made the 50:50 proposal. It was to fill the
gap left British Administration – needed
to maintain our global connections.
The above ‘objection’ to my mind is the
parallel of old Public Service officers opposing my approach to Democratic
Accounting – a reason why I eventually went to prison in Australia for Peaceful
Assembly. Here in Sri Lanka’s Mallakam Courts also – an Affidavit prepared as
per Australian format – by my husband who is Australian – but affirmed and
signed in Jaffna was set aside as being invalid due to the alleged absence of
Jurat Clause. As per Wikipedia ‘A jurat is
a clause at the foot of an affidavit showing
when, where, and before whom the actual oath was sworn or affirmation was made’
My husband’s Affidavit satisfied all these requirements (thanks to my EXPERIENCE of
the Australian legal system) and yet all Sri Lankan lawyers concerned continued
to treat it as being deficient. The Judge obligingly set it aside. The jurat clause in the Affidavit signed by
the other side is as follows:
1)
Read over and explained and having understood the
contents therein affirmed to and signed at Jaffna on this 26th day
of May 2011.
My husband’s Affidavit started as follows:
2)
On
this Thirtieth day of December 2011, I Subramaniam Paramasivam of Kali-Vairavar
Temple – Thunaivi – Sangarathai Junction & of 906/56 Carr St. Coogee NSW,
Australia – affirm as follows:…
At the foot was the signature of the JP –
with the date and place and duly
stamped.
To my mind, our Affidavit (2) fulfilled the
requirements of an Affidavit – a statement of our fact as verified by our conscience.
The other party’s was for those who needed the help of others to formulate their
evidence to suit the Courts. ‘Understanding’ and ‘Believing’ are not the same. Theirs
was written in third party language and ours in first party. They were writing
as ‘outsiders’ observing and we were writing from within. But ‘political/local’
influence was abused to set aside ours, while including theirs.
Mr. Vigneswaran and Mr. Gajendrakumar are
moving towards consolidating minorities to be One Opposition. This would go
towards a higher start in Administration. To claim political independence and
therefore Nationalism in Politics – the other minorities ought to have made
their parallel of Vaddukoddai Resolution – the Group parallel of an Affidavit. Mere
belief would help us as individuals. But to become structure – we need to have the
courage to face the consequences – and the only Sri Lankan group known to have
had that courage is the Tamil Community led by Jaffna Tamil faction.
Like the 50:50 – the current provision in the
Constitution states that the President has the power to ‘appoint’ the Prime
Minister. As per article 43(3) of the Sri Lankan Constitution:
‘The President shall appoint as Prime Minister the Member of
Parliament who in his opinion is most likely to command the confidence of
Parliament.’
Identification with the Confidence of fellow members of Parliament is through one’s
own belief. This could be through the Principles and Policies of the
Parliamentary system or through the current individuals in Parliament. Appointment
is more like GG Ponnambalam’s 50:50 – and leans towards Merit based
Administration. If therefore the
President is a strong Administrator s/he is likely to ‘appoint’ and therefore ‘invoke’ the cooperation and
blessings of wider world using Common Principles and pathways to Govern. To my
mind, the appointment of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister earlier
this year – is of this kind. Under this system - the confidence of the
Parliament is commanded at the higher level – through Common Policies on which
our Parliamentary system is founded. It is NOT limited to current individuals
physically in a particular parliament. If
it is indeed limited to majority rule – without passing the Administrative test
– then yes, like our Affidavit above – Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe could be set
aside by a system that has limited itself to emotional agreements and
disagreements – called Politics.
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