Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 09 Sept  2015

Lest we forget Mr. Wigneswaran’s Contribution

The Chief Minister of Northern Province – the Hon C V Wigneswaran has been strongly criticized by some for his support for Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) – headed by Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam. To my mind, it is more about supporting young lawyers than about acting against his own Political Party – the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

This leaning was  foreseen and projected by this writer – at the beginning - through discussions after the Impeachment of the former Chief Justice, as follows:

‘The above speech by Justice Wigneswaran was made in the aftermath of the dismissal of Dr. Shirani Bandaranaike from the position of Chief Justice. The legal profession claimed that it was in breach of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers. The question I ask now is ‘If the Executive is wrong in playing the role of Judiciary is it not equally wrong for the Judiciary to play the role of the Executive?’ Justice Wigneswaran enjoys respect as a Judicial expert and his social position is also high on this basis. The status earned through the legal profession must strengthen the Judicial structure and not the Political structure. Justice Wigneswaran becoming a Government Minister is the parallel of changing religions or race.’

(http://www.austms.org/other_pdfs/Guardian_25_April_2013.pdf)

Not many seemed to take notice of what I said in 2013. Some said we needed an educated person. Now the damage that happened in the case of the Chief Justice seems to be heading Northwards too. Unless some of us, use our credits with the Lord – and  ‘write’ our own messages through the Lord’s system there is serious risk of losing the value of Equal Opposition in Sri Lankan Parliament. The Lord’s system works on our True causes. People may write using their official positions and their social popularity. But the expression based on belief  shows  the workings of the Lord’s system.  It goes beyond human systems – be it Politics, Administration or Judicial. It comes back direct to Society – to support the home-area of the person who earned that true support. That was how TNA became the Leading Opposition in National Parliament.

The main point of contention is whether or not there needs to be further  Internal War-Crimes investigations in Sri Lanka. The TNA’s stand here seems to be ‘NO’ and the TNPF together with TNPF seems to be ‘YES’. I received emails in support of TNA as well as Mr. Wigneswaran. The first Respondent against TNA’s position stated:

“.. the Tamil people are being disenfranchised and victimized by the Sri Lanka authorities. This injustice must stop. The Tamil people must be allowed to live in peace and flourish in their homeland”

 Nobel Laureate, Prof.Elie Wiesel.

The three decades long civil war between a Sinhala Buddhist state and the Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka ended on May 18th 2009 in the most inhumane way. The brutal war ended, but the ethnic conflict still continues. Hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians were allegedly massacred by the Sri Lankan armed forces at the end of that civil war. The mono ethnic Sinhala Military continues to occupy the Tamil Lands. And a campaign of landgrab, intimidation, and violence continues unabated. 

A Panel of Experts appointed by the Secretary General of UN found that there were credible evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity that need further investigation by an independent and credible international mechanism. 

In March of 2014,UNHRC passed a resolution requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to “undertake a comprehensive investigation.”.

Sir Anthony Mason – then the Chancellor of the University of New South Wales also ordered an investigation into my complaints of Racial Discrimination against senior staff of the University. But the Deputy Vice Chancellor responsible – delayed and when I said I was taking the matter to external authorities he published a report which failed to cover the main part of the complaint. But Sir Mason did not take it further. I expect the UN to do likewise. Both – the Chancellor and the UN – are largely Facilities. They are there to facilitate our work.  They cannot directly get involved in Administration. Given the confirmations of Divine support I kept going. Now I know that Justice eventually happened. If not for that experience – I would not have focused on Sri Lankan issues as I do now. I felt  the Discrimination pain here in Australia – AFTER – being an outstanding performer in Administration/Management. My belief in God – helped me work out step by step – how Natural Justice was Balancing the system to ultimately deliver the outcomes as per the various parties concerned. When an issue goes beyond Human systems accessible to a person / group – it goes into the Lord’s system. Unless the victim has invested in a particular ‘human system’ the victim would not be able to identify with the return experienced by the other. But all of us can work out our own True return. Many war victims have got their returns and their Peace should not be disturbed by false promises of ‘foreign’ redemption.

Complaints of Tamils who truly suffered through the war but did not have recourse to Justice – would certainly have gone to the Lord’s system. Man cannot do better than God.  Our true investments in the systems of Democracy and / or Autocracy would help us identify with the returns. Those who practiced Democracy – as I did – would independently identify with the outcomes through the Objective pathway. Those who relied on others would learn from their leaders through the Subjective pathway.

Given that Tamil investment in Democracy is limited largely to claiming Equal rights to self-governance – it would be ridiculous to expect direct victims of war to identify with the return through the Objective pathway. Most of them are therefore likely to take the Subjective pathway. Most Diaspora leaders who have been actively involved in the politics of Sri Lanka are yet to become this medium for victims of war. Only  a handful go about providing recovery services. But the former do not want to hear ‘good reports’ about such Service providers’ observations – when they are positive in relation to the non-interference of Government. The way Diaspora leaders tend to criticize Political leaders of their Opposition – Government forces also pick the more politically active Diaspora members to question. They tend to not interfere with true service providers who quietly go about their Service.

Ultimately, we reap as we sow. It’s our true mind (read  through our insight)  that confirms as to what we are sowing. I am now able to identify with the Beauty of the Lord’s system in that when I contributed to and/or sacrificed for the other person to get credits – I was actually doing it  for ME in that position.

Likewise, those who fail to take due care in criticizing leaders because of the excitement of that position – and have  least concern for the damage to the genuine contribution made by others in that person and/or position – are sowing the seeds of dependence. One who seeks to lead others to Independence needs to ensure that s/he is  first Independent. Diaspora leaders who do not have direct position in Sri Lanka – need to ensure that they qualify under this criterion to criticize Sri Lankan leaders of any ethnicity. Otherwise – they need to seek and find their local spokespersons. Then the  returns would be through the local pathway and not through the International pathway.

As per today’s mail – Mr. Wigneswaran is guilty of  becoming such a spokesperson for an Australian  Tamil led by a British Tamil. But then we witnessed Mr. Sumanthiran doing likewise before the elections. So far Mr. Sampanthan seems to be the most independent one. I felt rewarded to receive mail from a Diaspora Elder who serves the Community anyway he can but does so quietly. It carried an account of the interview of Mr. Sampanthan by Chaminda Weerawardhana – published by Colombo Telegraph. Through my work in Vaddukoddai -  I identify fully with the last part of the  following message from Mr. Sampanthan:

Q: TNA and JVP: possibilities of working together?

The Hon Sampanthan: The Eighth Parliament offers a unique opportunity for the TNA and the JVP, the two main opposition parties, to begin a cordial and open-minded dialogue, and work towards sharing shadow cabinet responsibilities. The JVP has a golden opportunity to stand by its frequently repeated commitment to national unity and inter-ethnic coexistence. The TNA has a golden opportunity to work with a national-level party that, despite its small size, occupies a decisive position in the polity, and is composed of educated young leaders, all of them representing not Colombo’s privileged high-tea cliques, but the larger Sinhala (and quite often Buddhist) community. The JVP’s composition and inclusivity could also send a crucial message to the TNA, on the importance of going beyond Vellalar gentlemen’s politics, to a political strategy that better accommodates and represents the Tamil social spectrum, and works towards increased respect for parity.

The work we do – of our own free will brings us Natural Partnerships. Mr. Wigneswaran is no exception to this through his Natural Partnership with young Lawyers’ group that TNPF is. In addition there is the heritage from Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam  that would naturally empower any genuine lawyer/member of the Judiciary. The older the heritage the wider the spread during current times.

Sri Lanka’s pathway cannot be directly related to the Western system nor even India’s system. We are developing our own and those who damage the contributions by genuine investors in self-governance, would damage their positions in their own home-groups. Ultimately it’s about how we interpret these outcomes for our own life.

I do believe that Mr. Wigneswaran is a Natural Governor in the Judicial world. It must be hard for him to operate as a Politician. We Tamils do need his leadership so long as we have Provincial Government structure. If that were to come to an end – then Mr. Wigneswaran would continue to be a Judicial Elder for Sri Lankans in Common. Using such elders as doormats speaks poorly of our own culture.